


Underworld Kids

by VikingShadows



Series: Rick Riordan Worlds [3]
Category: Percy Jackson and the Olympians & Related Fandoms - All Media Types, Percy Jackson and the Olympians - Rick Riordan, The Heroes of Olympus - Rick Riordan
Genre: Gen, Multi, Other, underworld kids
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2014-08-13
Updated: 2015-04-12
Packaged: 2018-02-13 00:46:32
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings, No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 9
Words: 22,157
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/2130699
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/VikingShadows/pseuds/VikingShadows
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Nico is grounded from the underworld during autumn by request of Persephone, it just so happens to be at the same time of the ancient Thesmophoria festival (A festival dedicated to Demeter and Persephone). Nico and Hazel has to work together as siblings to get through three challenges at camp half blood.</p><p>Additional stuff:<br/>This is also a story about the siblings growing closer to each other.<br/>This story contains spoilers.<br/></p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Siblings

**Author's Note:**

> I am so new at this, I apologise in advance for anything that is annoying, incorrect or just plain newbie-tastic on this site. Please have patience with me, I'm doing my best

When Hazel got home she hadn’t expected her brother Nico to sit on the couch with his hands thoughtfully on his face and his gaze lost somewhere on the floor like he’s just done something horrible.  
“Nico?” Frank said and hung up his autumn jacket. He and Hazel were sharing a flat in new Rome.  
“Nico!” Hazel dropped her jacket on the floor and didn’t bother removing her boots. Nico didn’t get to reply before she had almost tacked him down on the couch. “Nico! Oh my gods! Nico, you’re back!”  
   Nico couldn’t help but smile, even if it was a bit sad. “sorry..”  
“Where have you been these past three months?! You just disappeared!” She sat up, her happiness turning quickly to anger. “And you didn’t even say bye! Jason had told me why you just left!”  
   Nico’s eyes had a hint of fright, which to Hazel was something new.  
“Told you? Told you what?” Nico asked, pulling a hand through his thick black hair as if he wasn’t nervous at all for the answer. Hazel liked to think she knew her brother the best, but this made her question it.  
“Why you left?” She blinked with confusion when Nico stood up, stepping away from her like he was afraid she would hit him.  
“I can explain, it’s- it’s just a phase or something, I will fix it. I promise!”  
“Calm down” Frank said from the doorway, putting up Hazel’s coat. “He just told us you left because you didn’t feel at home at camp-half-blood and needed time to think.” He paused and looked at Nico who tried not to tremble. “Or.. Was that a lie or something? Where _have_ you been?”  
“I have been in the underworld. Helping dad.” Nico said quickly, avoiding their eyes. “He… sent me up to the surface. For a vacation he said, sort of.” Either he liked his shoes a lot or he didn’t want to look either of them in the eye.  
   Hazel pursed her lips, something was off. “Okay, well, I’m glad you came here! You can stay with us, I’ll make the couch ready for you. I think I got some camp t-shirts you could use for change too.” She gave Nico a skeptical look. “Seeing as you didn’t bring any. You _are_ staying, right?”  
“If you’d let me? It’s just a little while. A week, tops, I promise.”  
“Hey man, it’s cool” Frank smiled and turned a corner into the kitchen. “Now I got someone to play mythomagic with!”  
   Nico smiled just a little. “You still play that?”  
“Of course! Dude! I’m praetor now! Do you have any idea how many are trying to beat me at that? They are a lot, Nico. _A lot_. I need to step up my game!”  
   Hazel giggled and took sheets out from the hall closet. “Lucky you Frank! I heard from Annabeth that this guy here was a super nerd at that game. If you’re extra nice, maybe you can make Nico play with you!”  
   Nico gave her a regarding gaze. “Annabeth? She talks about me?”  
   Oh shoot, Hazel had forgotten that Nico had a crush on her. Did he still have a crush on her? It was Piper who told her that she had heard from Percy that Nico was crushing on his girlfriend. No wonder Nico was such a grump whenever Percy was around.  
“Oh, uh, yeah!” Hazel tried to save it. “Since you guys are old friends.”  
“Friends, yeah..” Nico said absently and turned to the window. “Looks like seasons still come to new Rome, huh.”  
“Oh that’s right! Seasons don’t work the same at the other camp.” Frank said from the kitchen where he had begun to cook. He liked cooking, it was relaxing. “Must be nice. Though, I’d miss autumn. I like autumn! Pretty colors, a nice fireplace, hot cocoa…” He trailed off daydreaming a little.  
   The underworld siblings looked at him in silence before Hazel broke out in a big smile. Frank was adorable, a big adorable cuddly bear. Nico eyed his sister and smiled, he was happy that she had found someone like Frank.  
“Yeah, well..” Nico said. “I’m not at camp so often, so I don’t know.”  
“Maybe you should” Hazel said and began to turn the couch into a bed with sheets and pillows. “I know Jason misses you.” That earned her a snort from Nico. “What? He does! He considers you his best friend, you know.”  
“I thought that was Leo.”  
“You can have more than one best friend.” Hazel stuck her tongue out and grinned. Nico shrugged, but smiled nonetheless. Hazel prided herself in that she was one of the few who Nico could relax around, even if she knew there would always be things he didn’t tell her, at least it was her he came running to. It was a trust she was not going to break.  
“Is everyone alright with pancakes?” Frank asked. “Because that’s what I’m making.”  
“Oh yes! I love pancakes!” Hazel clasped her hands together and turned to Nico.  
“I haven’t had that in centuries.”  
   That sentence was more candid than either of them dared to comment on. But Frank kind of got the hint anyway.  
“Ah! I hope I won’t disappoint then!”  
“I doubt it” Nico said and waved a hand in front of him. “Back then everything was canned and tasted like old man fart.”  
“HAHAHA!” Hazel burst, Nico got startled, and she quickly put a hand over her mouth. Hearing Nico saying ‘fart’ was so out of place that she had erupted in sudden laughter. “Sorry.”  
   Nico grinned in that unintended creepy way and arched a brow her way. “Farts make you laugh?”  
“You saying fart makes me laugh.”  
“Oh?” Nico grinned. “Fart, Fart, Fart, Fart.”  
   Hazel’s eyes widened, this was a side she wasn’t very used to. An annoying brother type of Nico… She liked it, and started laughing. “Stop! Stop! It sounds weird coming from you! Hahaha!”  
“faarrrtttsss!” Nico leaned in and poked her in the side.  
“HAHA! NO, nooo! Tickling is cheating- NO! Hahaha! Nico! Nico stop! Hahahahaha! Fraaaank! Help meee!”  
“Are you in mortal danger?” Frank’s sing-song voice asked from the kitchen.  
“YES- AHHAAH NICO STOP!”  
“Never! You shall bow before me, for I am the son of Hades, king of ghosts and survivor of Tartarus!”  
“Yeah well _I_ ” Hazel started, grabbing a pillow and chucked it at Nico’s face. “Am daughter of Pluto! Cursed by the emerald touch! I shall defeat you, oh brother!”  
“We shall see, dear sister” Nico chuckled sinisterly and picked up the pillow from the couch. “We, shall, see.”  
  
Frank sighed happily, listening to Hazel and Nico bond in the living room by destroying it. Hazel had told him she had always felt like it was a little bit awkward between her and Nico, that she could never measure up to Bianca, that Hazel would never get to see Nico the way he used to be – which according to Percy, Annabeth and Grover was; an annoying little brother with a geeky interest for mythomagic, a ball of energy that just would not stop pestering you with questions.  
   Hazel had always wanted to meet that side of Nico. And it seemed that on a whim, somehow, that side of Nico di Angelo had slipped through. And all it took was canned pancakes that smelled like fart from the 1940s.  
   That was, until a vase crashed against the floor. Frank leaned out to look at his girlfriend and inlaw, seeing them frozen, tangled together on the couch. As if someone had pressed pause on the scene, Frank could see that Nico; who was lying down, had tickled Hazel so that in turn, she had extended her arm, flopped over, and pushed Nico’s pillow against a nearby Chinese vase.  
   The siblings stared at him.  
   Frank stared back. “You both better glue that back together or I will swear to Pluto _and_ Hades to ground you.”  
“Technically I already am grounded.” Nico spurt out.  
“What? You are?”  
“Kind of, well, Dad thinks I work too hard and he won’t let me back down in a month even if I so die during that time.”  
“What?! Why?”  
“As I said, he thinks I work too hard. That and Persephone wanted some child-free time with him, which is understandable, even if we are on good terms now. Though, I admit I have a bad feeling about this, like I’m forgetting something.. But I can’t put my finger on it.”  
“I’m sure it’s nothing Nico, the war is over after all. Maybe father just honestly wanted you to take time off?”  
“Yeah, maybe.”  
   Frank huffed. “Hey, guys?” He pointed at the vase. “Glue.”  
“Sorry Frank! We’ll do it right away!” she blew him a kiss, which made the bulky guy blush. She got up to fetch the glue, and Nico picked up the pieces. The two of them spent the day puzzling it together and eating pancakes with Frank.  
  
  
Her brother had been there for three days and he spent them sleeping. When he was awake, he ate a third of the food on his plate and the rest of it during the day at lunch and dinner.  
   Hazel let him discover television and thus for the nights the three of them watched movies and random British crime shows; Nico seemed fond of Midsummer murders. Probably because it was slow and easier for him to follow; the action movies let her brother sit wide eyed and jumpy at all the explosions, he also started leaning in to ask things like ‘ _Who’s that?_ ’ and ‘ _wait what happened, he’s the bad guy? Wait, who is she?_ ’  
   When Frank suggested some marvel movies, Nico was sold. It made Hazel happy that she, yet again in such a short time, got to see a side of her brother that he had kept away for so long – his geeky side. He began to ramble about the dark knight like it was the biggest thing since mythomagic. Which also made the couple have to endure a lot of ‘ _why so serious?_ ’ jokes, which to be fair, was really unnerving coming from Nico. He still had that… vibe... of a mad scientist, with the glint of a runaway serial killer in his eyes.  
   Hazel and Frank knew it wasn’t on purpose and that Nico wasn’t at all like that. But the guy didn’t exactly help the interpretation of himself by dressing in black, being olive pale, dark circles under the eyes like he hadn’t slept since the day he was born and of course the shaggy curly dark hair that tangled over his cheeks in a feral kind of way.  
“Hey, Nico?” Hazel held a scissor in her hands. “Would youuuu.. like a haircut?”  
   Nico opened an eye from where he was laying on the couch. It was eerie; she could never tell if he was awake, asleep or dead.  
“A haircut? Why?”  
“Well, it is getting a little long.”  
“Just to the shoulders. I do cut it myself sometimes. But it grows out quickly.”  
“Well, if you don’t care all that much.. Can I cut it? You look so improper.”  
   Nico looked at her with both his eyes now.  
“pleaaaasee?”  
   He sighed and sat up sleepily. “Alright, go nuts.”  
“What, really?”  
“yes.” He stroke a finger over his eyelid to make an eyelash stop poking him in the eye. “Really.”  
She let out an excited glee and rushed to get a towel. Nico leaned into his hands. He was still feeling sleepy and he’d let Hazel do as she pleased as he napped through it.  
  
When Frank came home, he was greeted by a “HAZEL!!”  
“You said; _go nuts_!”  
   Frank sighed. “oh boy.” Here they go again. Sure, sure, he was happy Nico and Hazel didn’t have that awkwardness around them anymore. But being the third wheel on their siblinghood was starting to become the role of a middle-hand-man, trying to find a solution in their family bickering, he imagined this must be how Hermes felt. These days they acted like siblings usually did; just the other day they fought over the remote.  
“okay, okay, guys break it up. What happened—“ He got his answer pretty quickly when Nico stepped out of the bathroom with short hair.  
“She cut my hair off!”  
“You said I could! And it’s not _that_ short! It’s still the same scruffy hair you always have, just… shorter. It looks good on you!” Hazel said.  
“NO, it does not! Ugh, Hazel I haven’t looked like this since I was like..” He waved his hands by his head, trying to find the number. “like.. twelve or something!”  
“Well, it still looks good on you.. It’s not that bad, right Frank?”  
“Yeah.” Franks blurt out a little too fast and got an annoyed stare from Nico, Like the son of hades knew Frank only agreed with Hazel because she was his girlfriend “Really Nico, that’s a good look on you!”  
   Nico looked at himself in the mirror. “I don’t recognize myself…” He pulled at one of his little curls. Well alright, it wasn’t that bad. At least she didn’t make him bald. He still had his trademark ruffled morning hair.  
“You look handsome! Not.. that you didn’t before, but now you look less, you know, scary! We can actually see your eyes now! And your cheekbones! You’re a very handsome fellow.” Hazel nudged him playfully and Nico blushed. “Maybe now some girls would dare come up to you!” She smiled, and Nico did not. Instead his face turned sour and he stormed away. Hazel mentally slapped herself, she forgot the whole thing about Annabeth; AGAIN. Gah, she was an idiot!  
“Wait, wait, I’m sorry! It’s ok, you don’t have to date anyone! I just thought.. well, I just wanted you to be happy.. maybe.. move on?”  
   Nico stopped and looked at her seriously. “Move on?”  
“Yeah, from…. Annabeth…? Right? You like her?”  
   Nico gave her a long look. “Who told you that?”  
“Piper…” Hazel admitted. Nico rolled his eyes and walked to the window.  
“Nothing’s wrong with it!” Hazel assured but Nico just groaned. “really! I mean, crushes can last a long time I.. I was just hoping you would.. maybe.. I mean… I’m sorry.”  
“I’m not in love with Annabeth.”  
   Frank stood awkwardly in the living room with them. “Not to be rude?” He said. “But it’s kind of… obvious that you are. Maybe you would feel better if you just-”  
“Oh yeah?” Nico cut him off and turned around with dangerous eyes. Okay, so the haircut didn’t make him any less scary at least. “Tell me Frank” His voice seemed to make the room darker. “Just what exactly makes my non-existent love for Annabeth so obvious?”  
“u-um” Frank stammered. He was a praetor of new Rome for gods’ sake! A son of Mars; the god of war! How could this skinny lean guy scare him? “Just, the way you glare at Percy and… Whenever they kiss you roll your eyes. Not to mention how you went out of your way to save her from Tartarus by guiding us to the doors of hell. You do sometimes secretly smile her way when Percy makes her laugh.”  
   Nico’s anger slowed down, and the room seemed lighter. “I’m not in love with Annabeth” He said in a low voice.  
“Hey, it’s okay if you are! I mean, Annabeth’s cool and all – not cooler than Hazel but, cool, I mean, err” Frank fussed. Hazel gave him a reassuring pat on the arm, so he continued. “But she loves Percy, Nico. Maybe just accept it and move on? It’s not healthy for you to wallow in your own agony. You worry Hazel and me, not to mention Jason who’s going a little bit too much out of his way to make sure nobody speaks ill of you and, yikes, you should’ve heard him tell Percy off-“  
“What?” Nico looked up. “What has Jason said to Percy?”  
“uh.. I.. can’t recall it exactly. But I think they were talking about how you weren’t around, Percy said something about how you always runaway and Jason? Jason. Flipped. Out.”  
   Nico looked shaken. He started mumbling to himself in Italian and slid a hand through his hair. He looked out the window, as if expecting a big hydra to come and eat him.  
“I.. I gotta go..” the shadows began sucking closer to him.  
“What?” Hazel panicked. “Wait, wait, Nico! Please stay! I’m sorry!”  
“No, Hazel-“ too late, Hazel grabbed him and they both slinked away in the shadows. When Nico realized that Hazel was going to travel along in the shadows with him; he hugged her close so he wouldn’t drop her somewhere random in the world, Hazel clung back.  
   Frank stood left in the living room. “um.. I said too much, didn’t I?”


	2. Different from you

When the shadows let go off them, Hazel wouldn’t let Nico go.  
“Hazel!” He scolded.  
“Stop running away!” She scolded back, “I won’t let you run away from me this time!” She hugged him harder. “I just won’t!”  
“Hazel.. Please Hazel..”  
“No! We are going to sit down! And we are going to talk about this! And you have no permission to leave until I say so!”  
“Hazel-“  
“Swear on the river styx or I will never let you go!”  
   There was a pause where a gentle salty wind breeze blew through their hairs. Only then did Hazel realize they stood on a cliff in camp-half-blood, a very secluded cliff, with a view of the sea and the Poseidon cabin.  
   Nico’s voice pulled her back to reality. “I swear on the river styx, I won’t leave until we have talked a little.”  
“Good..” she let go of him reluctantly. Nico sat down, and she followed his example. They sat in a silence for a while, just watching the sun in the hour before it turned into a sunset. The siblings turned to the sound of Tyson’s voice shouting ‘ _Percyyyy!_ ’ and ‘ _Hey big guy! You’re back!_ ’  
“So..” Hazel wasn’t wearing any shoes so she was picking off forest dust from her white socks. “Annabeth, huh?”  
“It’s not Annabeth.” Nico grunted. “I don’t know why people think—“  
“it’s pretty obvious, Nico.” Hazel stroked his newly cut hair and smiled, trying to calm him down. He gave her a pained look. “it’s ok, I’m here for you. Alright? I love you, you’re my brother and we can talk about anything.”  
   Hazel didn’t like how Nico’s eyes turned more and more painful for every word she said, like all she said was another stab in a wound he just wouldn’t show.  
   Nico hugged his knees close, “Do you.. ever miss the 1920s?”  
   Hazel kept playing with the curls of his hair. “Sometimes.. well no, not really, actually. It wasn’t much of a life. The racism, the poverty, my crazy mother…” She stared out over the sea like she had a bad taste in her mouth. “I mean, yeah, I had a good friend back then but.. er.. would’ve been a little bit more than weird to say I’m Leo’s grandma.” Nico gave her a stare. “Yeah, I know, apparently I knew his grandpa! Haha- don’t worry it was purely platonic. Sort of. Er…”  
“it’s alright.” Nico smiled. “I’m not judging.”  
   Hazel smiled back. “Neither will I, if you just tell me what’s wrong?”  
   Nico’s smile fell again and he looked thoughtful. “In the 1940s..” He started. “it was a messy time, the government of Italy was fascist and they controlled almost everything you did. I don’t remember much of it; I was pretty much in my own world. But I would look at my mama and Bianca and I… knew we lived in the wrong place.”  
   Hazel listened to him with great attention.  
“Our father brought us to America, we lived in a hotel that Zeus attacked, our mother died and dad took us to the underworld to bathe us in the river Lethe. Our memories weren’t the same after that. They have slowly come back over the years. I was alone when it all hit me, when I remember how everything had been. How I’m supposed to be in a time that no longer exists. I will never fit in here Hazel…”  
“You fit in!” Hazel protested. “I’m the same as you! And look at me!”  
“We’re not the same.” Nico’s tone was tired, like it had said the same words a thousand times in his head. “I’m very, very, different from you. You don’t reek of death, you do not make animals scared, and people don’t look at you like you’re a freak.”  
“They used to, until you came along and gave me a place to belong to.” She said quietly and they locked eyes. “Please, Nico..” She put her hands on his arm like a puppy. “Please give yourself a chance.”  
“In the 1940s, do you know what they did to people who were different?”  
   Hazel gave him a blank annoyed stare. “Nico, I’m a black girl from the 1920’s. Yeah, yeah I know what they do to people who are ‘ _different_ ’.”  
   Nico winced. “Sorry, I didn’t mean skin color, I mean- no, forget it; that was offensive of me. I’m sorry. Never mind.”  
“oh no, no no, you swore on the styx we would tell me what was wrong!”  
“I swore we would talk a little, and we have.”  
“Nico!” she groaned. Her brother was a stubborn mule sometimes. “Look, I won’t judge you! What do you mean different? What does that have to do with your crush on Annabeth?”  
“I’m not in love with Annabeth Chase.” Nico closed his eyes and braced himself. “I’m in love with Percy Jackson.”  
   Hazel looked at him; she had not expected that at all. And in the silence she slowly puzzled everything together. Nico was trying to push Percy away; he wasn’t looking at Annabeth laughing but rather Percy’s face when he lit up for making her laugh. Nico had brought them to the doors of death to save Percy. It was never about Annabeth. Now that she thought about it, it was so incredibly obvious that it was Percy that Nico loved, and sadly that made it more sensible to her why it was so hard for Nico to get over him.  
“oh.. oh gods, Nico you’re—“ She stopped herself when seeing how Nico was holding himself so hard his knuckles turned white (if it was even possible to get any whiter than he already was). His eyes were fixed on the ground, waiting for Hazel to reject and hate him, to disown him, to hit him or- anything. He was so scared he couldn’t move. And it broke her heart. She scooted closer and hugged him.  
   He glanced at her. “Don’t you… hate me?”  
“No, I love you.” Hazel said and squeezed him in her arms. “You’re my brother and I could never, ever, hate you. I’m just sorry you felt like you had to carry that on your own.”  
   Nico gently pushed her off him and looked at her, confused. “Hazel, I’m a homosexual. They- they are sick and perversions of nature. “  
“Whoa there,” Hazel put a calming hand on his cheek. “You’re not sick or a perversion. Neither is anyone else who feels that way.”  
   He blinked, like he was hearing the wrong things. “Hazel, you’re from the 20’s, How can you not think what I am is disgusting?”  
“I don’t know, I never gave it much thought. There weren’t many batty boys around where I lived.” Hazel gave him a supportive smile and stroked a black curl of hair from his face. “Besides, if you watch a little bit more television you will realize that stuff like that isn’t strange at all in this century, but actually rather very welcomed!”  
   Nico kept his eyes tinted with disbelief fixed on her.  
“it even got a name now like… terms… for.. for all kinds of sexualities and gender and- there’s lots of it! And they are many who feel like that! People of all kinds, all over the world!” She extended her arms to the sky for emphasis; Nico looked up at the pink skies with the golden clouds. The sunset was setting in. “You’re not alone feeling that way Nico, and you’re definitely not different from doing so.”  
   The son of Hades watched her face, waiting for something to give away her lying. But it never came. His lip trembled and he closed his eyes, and ducked his head down to try and hide in the folds of his arms.  
“aw, nooo, nooo, sshh.. There, there. I’m here.” Hazel hugged him and he leaned in for it, hugging back. She let him burry himself at her shoulder.  
   She felt his skinny arms hold onto her like she just came back from the dead a second time. She smiled and held him closer. They ended up with him sitting sideways over her lap, legs over hers as she hugged him. She kissed his head and whispered to him that she loved him and everything was alright.  
  
They sent Frank and Iris Message and told him they were alright, and they were going to stay in the Hades cabin tonight since Nico kind of was out of energy to shadow travel again today. Frank told them it was alright, they obviously needed some time to be alone and sibling bond.  
   Nico told Hazel she could tell Frank what they talked about, so she did, and threatened her boyfriend that if he told any alive or dead soul about this he could consider himself couched for the rest of the year. Frank waved his hands and swore to his father’s name that he’d never tell a soul. Not that Frank was the type to tell other people’s secrets but it was just a reassurance.  
   Besides, Frank liked Nico, sure, he was a little strange but who wasn’t? Frank turned into a bulldog sometimes when he slept and felt cold, that’s a little strange too! Nico was a good friend to anyone who let him close, and a good brother to Hazel. Of course Frank took pride in that Nico would let him know his secret; he wasn’t going to abuse it. Having Nico on your side could mean a lot of good in more ways than friendship. He was already plotting capture the flag strategies, now that Nico trusted him enough to maybe fight for his battalion.  
  
“So…” Hazel looked at the Hades cabin. “You built this when you were twelve or something?” Nico had given her his shoes to wear, so he was walking in his gray socks and she was wearing oversized black sneakers.  
“yeah.” Nico looked at the green flames outside the house and the black oak wood that was their cabin. “it is better inside, I promise.”  
“okay… because these skull decorations are a little too dark for my taste.”  
“We can make changes.”  
“oh we will.” She patted his shoulder and walked ahead inside. “We will.”  
   The inside had a vibe of a 1940s casino. Like a cool smoky club in a vintage detective movie. But it was pretty, classy with a touch of the underworld. Nico pointed out that the fireplace was a replica of the one their father had in his palace. He had tried to fit in a lot of things that the underworld had too, which meant that a lot of the decorating’s were either skeleton-like or just plain creepy. By the fireplace there was two armchairs and a couch, the feet were paws with claws, they were of leather that one could imagine what kind of monster it belonged to. It was grotesque, but fancy. On the wall was a spin-the-wheel game that blinked like a Vegas casino.  
“What’s that there for?” She asked.  
“Oh, I lived in Vegas in the lotus casino for a long time. I sent some of the builder skeletons to get one for me.. it… took him a month to get it.” He chuckled at the irony. “I remember this from the casino. It was horrible that I was stuck there but I had a great time. Just playing games, eating candy until I felt sick. Beautiful times.”  
   Hazel giggled and looked at the wheel; she tried to imagine a tiny Nico playing with it and smiled at the faked memory. She turned and saw there was a tiny table in the corner with chess figures of Greek gods and heroes and it made Hazel let out an unattractive snort. Because _of course_ Nico would have a Greek mythology chessboard.  
“This place is.. cool.” She nodded. It wasn’t at all as bad or creepy as she thought it would be. It felt more like a cottage where the owner was an old rich cowboy from Las Vegas or something.  
“it’s really corny looking. My apologies, my 12 year old self had a disoriented idea of what was cool and what you could actually live with.”  
“no no! I mean it, it looks the way a hades cabin should look. Dark, rich, classy. I like it. And considering you and I aren’t from modern society, I think it fits us very well-” She gasped suddenly and pointed at the cooler in the corner. “Oh my gosh! That is so cool!” She went to the red coca-cola cooler and looked into it and let out a delightful squeal when she saw the old brands of ice-cream of her childhood. “Oh my gosh! Oh my gosh! Nico! Nico these must…. Taste, really bad. Wow, these are so old how did you even get hands on these?”  
   Nico shrugged. “They were in there when I got it.”  
“you got it?”  
“yeah, some of the skeletons just… went to the underworld and chucked up whatever they found I guess? I think maybe dad had a hand in the looks of the furniture.” He kicked the black couch table lightly where the legs looked like painted bone legs.  “Because I just made a list and a vague ugly drawing of what I wanted it to look like, then the skeletons did the rest pretty much.”  
“hehe, well, I still think it fits. Here, take an ice-cream!” she tossed him a Tillamook vanilla ice-cream package. “Where’s the spoons?”  
“in the kitchen.”  
“We have a kitchen? Wow, I’m pretty sure the Ares cabin doesn’t have that!” She’s been in there once with Frank, greeting his Greek siblings since he was too nervous to go by himself.  
“really? I just thought it was essential.. it isn’t, er, it’s not big. It’s more like a closet than a kitchen. Just four diner chairs, a diner table a fridge, and a sink. No stove.”  
   Hazel entered it and it looked like a very, very, tiny diner. She grinned, it was adorable and the only place so far that wasn’t soaking in dark colors, if you don’t count that the fridge was modern looking and completely black along with the table, then yeah, this was the most colorful room.  
“The bathroom is in there. There’s a first aid kit in the black locker with the white cross on.” Nico pointed to another door.  
“Obviously.”  
   Nico chuckled. “And the bedroom is in there.” He pointed to an opening in the main hall. “Mine’s the one in the corner, I made three more beds. Our dad doesn’t seem the type who makes a lot of demigods so… I didn’t think any more was necessary.”  
“I get that vibe from him too. One demigod every 50 th or 100th year or so.”  
“Yes, and they shall only meet by very odd circumstances.”  
“Like being stuck in the lotus casino, or being brought back from the dead.” They both laughed and ended up playing board games in the main room by the fireplace as they emptied the cola cooler of old timey ice-creams.  



	3. Demeter's festival

  
Nico woke up in his bed by the noise of voices in his cabin. He sat up, and pulled a hand through his hair, which threw him back to yesterday’s incident with Hazel cutting his hair. But, well, he wouldn’t say it out loud but he was already getting used to it and liked it a lot.   
   The first seemed to belong to Hazel, who wasn’t in the bed next to Nico’s like last night. He swung his legs over the side and stepped right on a candy wrapper. He rolled his eyes and removed it from under his foot. The other voice belonged to a guy, but not Frank. There was another girl voice; Piper maybe? Nico shrugged himself up and walked to the door, he swung it open. He might as well announce his presence.  
“Jason, Piper.” Nico said with a voice deep from sleep, he coughed awkwardly to get rid of it. “What brings you to our cabin?”  
“Nico!” Jason burst and ran over. Nico had no chance in hell to escape the big hug Jason was giving him. “You’re back! Thank the gods! We’ve missed you so much!”  
“Put me down you big dog!” Nico patted his back. “I missed you too, there, there.”  
   Jason’s laugh was loud and happy. Nico was a little surprised Jason was this excited to see him; he could almost picture him as a big fluffy golden retriever with a wagging tail and floppy tongue staring at him with beaming happy blue eyes.  
“Dude! When did you come back to the living?” Jason looked back at Piper like ‘ _look my friend! He’s back!_ ’ to which Piper just nodded and smile like Jason was being an adorable idiot.   
“Nico got back a few days ago to me and Frank in New Rome.” Hazel told them. “Though, we only got here last night.”  
“What brings you back?” Jason asked eagerly.  
“um.. Dad grounded me from the underworld for a month to give me a vacation. ‘ _it’s not good that you’re here all the time, Nico, you need sun and flowers’_ ” Nico made a girly imitation of Persephone.   
“I’m gonna go ahead and guess that wasn’t your dad.” Piper chuckled.  
“His wife.” Nico said. “Persephone. She convinced dad that the underworld wasn’t good for me 24/7, so… Dad sent me up, assured me he didn’t need my help for a month, and dumped me in New York somewhere. So I shadow traveled to Hazel.”  
“You didn’t tell me all that before.” Hazel pouted, Nico shrugged.  
   Jason patted Nico on the back “Well, hey man, I’m happy you’re back! Hades is right; you should be up here on the surface with us. Where you belong.” He eyed him seriously, like they were having a conversation only they understood.  
“Oh, that’s okay,” Hazel said. “He knows where he belongs. Right, Nico?” she smiled to her brother, who gave her a small smile back. Jason looked between them like he was wondering if Hazel knew what he knew and if she knew he knew.   
“Oh.. Ok. Good!” He said, trying to not sound so obvious about his thoughts, and looked at Nico like he wanted to talk to him later.  
“We will catch up later.” Nico returned the pat on the back to Jason. “Now, again, what brings you here?”  
“The lights were lit in your cabin. Jason wanted to see if you were here.” Piper said, nudging Jason teasingly like he was a big dork.  
“Ah.” Nico said and looked at the ceiling chandelier. “I forgot to turn it off.”  
“Will you guys stay in camp long?” Piper asked the question Jason was trying not to shout out right away. But he looked at the underworld kids expectantly, and very hopefully.  
“Aww, we can stay a few days. I’m sure Frank won’t mind” Hazel said. “right Nico? Might be good for you too.”  
   Nico made an uncomfortable shrug.  
“AH! WAIT!” Jason’s eyes went wide. “YOUR HAIR!”  
“oh, right, yeah, Hazel cut it off.”  
“Wow!” Piper grinned. “Looking good on you! The girls will swarm, I bet ya. If you want, I can put in a good word for you.” She winked at him, Nico blushed and held up his hands in defense.  
“n-no, thanks but no thanks. I’m not-“ Luckily, both Jason and Hazel began talking.  
“He’s not interested in-“ Hazel started.  
“Piper don’t force him to-“ Jason stopped.  
   Jason and Hazel looked at each other.  
“oookay!” Piper laughed. “juuuust putting it out there! That’s all.” She smiled. “And if you like someone.. I can help. I’ve gotten way better at this whole Aphrodite thing now.”  
   Nico chuckled and thought to himself; _‘I like Percy, so, I don’t think there’s much you can do.’_ “Thanks, McLean, but I think I’m ok.”  
“Suit yourself.” Piper smiled and nudged him, but he stepped away from her. “Oh right, the no-touching rule, sorry. I forgot.”  
“The what now?” Nico’s face scrunched, like he was either worried or curious that someone had been talking about him.   
“Uh.. I told her you don’t like being touched. Is that ok?” Jason admitted with guilt washed over his face.  
“Yeah, that’s ok.” Nico gave him a reassuring smile that, first time to Piper, didn’t look insane.  
“Also, you guys have excellent timing!” Piper added. “Today is the beginning of the Thesmophoria festival!”  
   Nico let out a gurgling annoyed noise. “So that’s why she kicked me up here _now_! Wow Persephone, the timing isn’t coincidental at all.”  
   Jason patted his friend, saying something about ‘ _you know how gods are’_.  
“What.. is this festival?” Hazel asked curiously.  
“Well,” Began Piper to Hazel. “it is a festival of three days, basically. It used to be only for women but it’s a bit impractical today since we rather not have girls walk up a hill and sleep in leaf houses for three days and whip each other with straps of bark. Instead we just party down here in camp, eat corn, cakes and pork – and for those who are vegetarians, there are alternatives.”   
   She gave Hazel a little wink, though realized quickly Hazel didn’t catch the joke, and coughed. “Well, I was told that camp basically just lit up torches each night as a tradition to when Demeter was looking for her daughter; your dad’s wife. This is called ‘the fair offspring’.  There is also some kind of torch light ceremony with a feast, and offerings were made to Demeter in the hope of a good harvest! Which we need, the strawberry fields haven’t been looking all that great this past summer.” Piper nodded to the direction of the fields even if they couldn’t be seen from the dark windows of the cabin.  
“Oh..” Hazel said, she got lost in that information dump. “Demeter, offerings, torches. Got ya.”  
“Hazel,” Nico’s voice was warning. “You and I especially need to make a good offering. Demeter is still not very happy about how Hades kidnapped her daughter to hell. If we misbehave she’s going to either punish us or dad. And our dad is a go, so it’s most likely going to be us.”  
“Wait,” Jason sounded alarmed. “I thought this festival was supposed to be fun? You’re telling me Hade’s wife’s mother is going to ruin our fun? Seriously?”  
“Yeah, Demeter can’t pick on Hades, but she can pick on his children.”   
“That is… really unfair” Piper said. “Hey, guys don’t worry. We will definitely help! Besides, I still got good old cornucopia! You guys can use it as much as you want for the offerings.”  
“Thank you McLean.” Nico said. “That’s a small relief at least…”  
“Piper is fine, y’know” Piper said, trying to get more familiar with her boyfriend’s treasured friend.  
   Jason furrowed his blonde brows. “You don’t sound sure this will go all that smoothly.”  
   Nico’s expression told Jason that he was right. “Well, Persephone was the one who gave dad the bright idea of sending me up here for a month. It can’t be a coincidence it was only a few days before the festival begins. I am pretty sure they got something up their sleeve. I mean, this is the first time in centuries a hades kid, and a Pluto kid too, is at camp-half-blood at the same time, during Demeter’s festival. I’m just going to prepare for the worst thing possible.”  
   Hazel brushed a hand over Nico’s hand and held it. “You think she will kill us..?”  
“Haha, no, she wouldn’t dare.” He assured her. “Dad would never forgive her.”  
“Really?” Hazel sounded surprised. Would their father really feel bad if they died? Did he really care? Well, Nico seemed to know him pretty well, she could only hope he was right.  
“yeah, really.”  
“Can’t you just leave camp then?” Piper asked. “That would be for the best right?”  
“No” Nico shook his head. “it would be disrespectful. As our father’s children, we must be here. Otherwise Demeter will be upset and dad will punish us instead- well, me, he doesn’t ‘ _know’_ about Hazel. But who knows, Demeter might shove Hazel in his face as our punishment.”  
“No!” Hazel exclaimed. “No, that’s not fair!”  
“Hazel, calm down. I won’t let anything happen to you, alright?” He hugged his sister and kissed her head. It was a display of affection none of the other two demigods were used to see from Nico. But Hazel figured that since their talk yesterday, and their last night of ice-cream and bonding, Nico would openly hug her close like this; probably feeling more confident around her. It filled her with a warm joy.   
   Nico was her family. Not even her mother would hold her like this and tell her she would protect her - and have her believe it. Nico brought her back from the underworld, and he had done nothing but favors for her. It never occurred to her at the beginning, since Nico always jumped away at touches, or looked like he was being haunted by ghosts. There had always been a discomfort around him, even with her. But over time in camp Jupiter, he had become closer. Letting her hug his arm, then his torso and finally just let her cling at him like a passive aggressive kitten. It was a slow process, but finally they were at a stage where everything felt comfortable and open, like bad air had cleaned out. Hazel was one of the few people who could make Nico crawl out of his shell, laugh and let loose with. That was her favorite moments, when Nico would just nudge her, she’d put a pillow in her lap and he’d lay down to rest as she pet his curly hair until he slept. Or recently; their sibling fights about the remote or favorite tea mug (Frank went and bought another to stop the bickering), the teeth brushing contests in the mornings that made Nico go from sleepy zombie to hyperactive dork in two seconds (gurgling toothpaste to gross her out with pretense rabies).  
   Hazel smiled and squeezed him back. Then reached up and put his cheeks between her hands, pushing them together to squish his face like a fish.   
“We will kick whatever it is’ butt!”  
   Nico snorted. “You said butt.” He said through his pushed together chipmunk-cheeks.  
“I’m trying to be serious and motivational here!”  
   Jason looked between the siblings like he had been missing out on something, but it made him really, really, happy to see Nico like this. And he made it his new mission to achieve that level of relationship too.   
“Aw,” Piper cooed. “You two, I never seen you guys act like this. When did that happen?”  
“Over time.” Hazel said and hugged Nico around the waist with her arm. He was blushing a little at the open display of affection she was giving him (it was easier to give than receive), but he couldn’t say he hated it. Actually, he could tell just by looking at Jason that this was what he had meant. ‘ _Stay at camp Nico, you belong here if you just give it a chance. You will see that you have a place here amongst your friends.’_  
“Don’t give me that look” Nico playfully kicked Jason’s leg.  
“haha, what look?” He kept his stupid grin on for the whole evening.  



	4. Three Challenges

  
Jason’s day had started amazingly well. He and Piper had discovered the lost son of Hades and his sister in their cabin, and he had then further discovered that Nico and Hazel were as close as butter on bread. Seriously, he couldn’t stop looking at his best friend, watch him smile and laugh next to Hazel. He was so comfortable around her, and he wished their friendship could reach that sometime.   
    Hazel had taken him aside, when Nico went to change from pajamas, and told him in private that she knew he knew about Nico (because he told her last night when she asked who else knew), and he told her in return that he was really happy to see Nico like this (Piper was looking at the las vegas roulette wheel on the wall with amusement at the time.) Hazel told Jason that he was already close to Nico, and it was just a matter of time until Nico would hug him first. Because if you asked Nico to list his friends; he’d always start with Jason. This news made Jason feel like he just won a rare sailor moon figurine (which, by the way, was a show he discovered he was totally into).  
   When Nico was done, Piper had suggested they go around camp to look at the festival setup around camp. Nico and Hazel hadn’t noticed all the decorations last night, but they were very apparent now.  
   Piper additionally explained that her cabin had a lot to do during this festival since it was also a side event for fecundity, sex, and male genitals on displays in pits – which was when Hazel covered her ears and went ‘ _la la la’._ Piper began to fret and assure her that the genital deal had been removed for the sake of decency, as well as letting men in general take part in the festival (as long as they behaved.) Hazel was relieved, and sent an IM to Frank about the festival and asked him if New Rome should send a praetor down to show their respect and good will. Frank agreed, and he would talk to Reyna about it.  
   As Hazel called Frank, it left Nico standing alone next to Jason, because Piper had to wander off for a bit to help her sister with a basket of food. She assured the two boys she needed no help and that they should take a second to catch up with each other. Which Jason gave her a pair of thankful eyes for.  
“So..” Jason peered at Nico. “You look good.”  
   Nico scoffed. “As good as I will ever be.”  
“Aw come now, stop with that stuff. Look, you got an amazing relationship with your sister and your cabin beats mine in awesomeness by miles.” That earned a gentle laugh from Nico, which made Jason smile wider. “And, hey, you got a great new haircut. It looks good on you.”  
“Does it? it’s not too short?” Nico touched his hair with his pale piano fingers.  
 “Not at all, man.” Jason reached out to ruffle him, but thought better of it. “it suits you!”  
“Thanks…” Nico shyly looked at the ground with a smile. Compliments were still hard to take, but Hazel told him to just say ‘ _thank you’_ and that was it.  
   The two friends stood silent, and for once it wasn’t that broody awkward type of silence they had during the war; where Nico tried to ignore the fact that Jason _knew things_ and kept pushing Jason away, only to end up having Jason take it as fuel to fire and peruse their friendship even more. The only reason they stayed friends was because of Jason’s ridiculous amount of effort. One night at the argo two, Nico had angrily asked him why it was important to him that they were friends; ‘ _nobody likes me Jason, it’s okay if you don’t either! Stop forcing yourself out of pity!_ ’ to which Jason had replied; ‘ _you know, you’re one of the very few people who don’t treat me like I’m a wonder boy. It’s nice to have people around who gives a damn how you really think and feel, and that you don’t have to put up a façade for them_.’ After that Nico had stopped pushing Jason away, he still didn’t like Jason touching him other than an occasional shoulder pat though, but it was a work in progress. At least now Jason could hug them when they met, even if Nico would make sure it ended quickly.  
   Nico coughed. “Anyway.”  
“Right.”  
“So, Piper, huh? You guys doing well then?”  
   Jason’s face lit up like a sun, and before he could tell Nico how happy he was to have Piper by his side – trouble walked right up.  
“NICO?! You’re _BACK_?!” Percy Jackson’s face was aghast with surprise, and then it turned into a huge smile, and two tanned spread arms to embrace Nico with. “Dude! Welcome back home!”  
   Jason could only helplessly watch Nico crawl into the depths of himself again, the usual scornful expression and annoying stare placed itself on his face like a math problem without solution.  
“Get off me Jackson.” And Percy just laughed, oblivious as ever to Nico’s discomfort.   
   Jason knew Percy wasn’t an asshole on purpose; Percy thought he was greeting a friend who had literally disappeared off the face of the earth. Percy thought he was making Nico feel at home and that they were good old friends. But Jason knew better, and could only imagine how hard it was for Nico to be around Percy. The guy’s feelings hadn’t faded completely, even if they were on a good way to do so. He could almost hear the sound of Nico’s heart being stabbed when Percy said;  
“I missed you Nico! We all did! I’m not letting you out of my sight again! Oh man, it’s so good to see you in the flesh again!” Percy’s broad smile and honest green eyes made Nico’s cheek turn pink and his eyes to fix on a little stone on the ground. “Where have you been these past three months?”  
“In hell.” Nico joked, but the monatomic tone made him sound serious. But Percy still grinned as if it’s passed him by.  
“Oh, in the underworld? Jason told us you needed time to think on your own, so, did you come to a decision? Will you stay with us now?”  
   Nico threw Jason an annoyed glance. Hazel had already told him this but it wasn’t until now he had an opinion about it, and he decided it was a bad one. Jason gave him an apologetic expression.   
“No,” Nico said coolly and ducked out from under Percy’s arm. “I haven’t decided yet. Besides, I have things to think about. This is Demeter’s and Persephone’s festival. What I do here is for a reason, Percy.”  
“Huh? What reason is that? Are you in some kind of trouble?” the son of Poseidon tilted his head in a way that only Annabeth could find stupid and Nico find attractive.   
“No, well, I don’t know yet. Maybe I’m just paranoid.” He didn’t look at Percy, he was looking everywhere else but on him, as if he was expecting Demeter to show up and slap him.  
“We demigods got all rights to be paranoid!” Percy laughed and put a firm hand on Nico’s shoulder, Nico shrugged it off.  
“Either way, maybe we should tell Chiron?” Jason suggested to get Percy’s focus away from Nico, and to give Nico an escape route.  
“Sounds good.” Nico said and began walking to the big house.  
“Oh! I’ll come with.” Percy said and followed.  
“No, uh, Percy” Jason stepped in front of him. “Could you maybe, er, tell the others? I will go with Nico. I think it might be a good idea if the rest of us are at least aware something could happen tonight, or tomorrow. It might not be anything, as Nico said. But just in case. So, could you tell them?”  
   Percy gave Jason a pout that had no effect at all, so he turned it to a suspicious stare. “Okay, Jason, what’s up with you? Why can’t I go with Nico? I’m not that stupid; I see there’s something else to this. Is he in real trouble? He’s my friend too, let me help.”  
“I know” Jason sighed “it’s not that, I promise. Trust me”  
   Percy Jackson took a long look at Jason, he trusted this guy with his life. So, if there was something Jason couldn’t tell him, he’d respect that and stop prying – even if, admittedly, it just made him more curious to find out. Maybe he could talk to Nico later? Try to finally bond with the guy in ways that didn’t involve the gods or them almost dying. You know, real friendship stuff; where you play games, talk deep and share a bottle of orange juice as you talk about girls or something. Whatever could bring Nico closer as a friend. Percy had always looked at Nico as a little brother that he felt bad for neglecting.   
“Alright” Percy said finally. “But you better not hog him all the time. I need to talk to him.”  
“yes, yes.” Jason said. “I promise”  
“Good, now you promised. And Jason Grace keeps his promises.” And he left with a grin, a dorky finger gun, and Jason groaned aloud inside his mind before catching up with Nico.  
“So I guess you didn’t tell them the part where I said I’m never coming back to camp.” Nico said without facing his friend.  
“No, I didn’t tell them. I knew you would come back eventually.” This made Nico look at him skeptically. “And it’d be embarrassing returning after saying something like that.” Nico rolled his eyes and smiled. “oh, just letting you know in advance that Percy wants to talk to you, alone.”  
“Thanks for the warning. I’ll avoid him.”  
“What? No, that’s not what I meant! Maybe you should talk to him? I mean, it could be good for you two? You got things to sort out and it doesn’t have to be the, you know, the thing.”  
   Nico gave him an annoyed stare before walking up on the porch of the big house. He was just going to walk inside when Chiron’s voice to the left said;  
“Nico di Angelo, nice seeing you’re back with the living!” His smile was so welcoming it might’ve melted a kitten’s heart. The underworld boy made a silent gesture of hello. “Hermes just sent me a letter for you. I told him nobody had seen you in months, but he assured me you would be here soon.” He rolled over in his wheelchair and gave Nico the letter.   
   The sigil of Persephone wasn’t broken yet, and Nico brushed his fingers carefully over it before opening it. Hermes was the gods’ messenger, so this was a real deal. He held his breathe and read it, and then furrowed his brows.  
“I knew it” he muttered. “Chiron,” Nico gave it back to the centaur. “You may want to read this.”  
   Jason cursed in roman and growled. “Are you for real? They are going to hurt you and Hazel because-“  
“No, Jason. Relax. We are not in mortal danger, just possibly a chance of being Demeter’s laughing stock.” Nico assured.  
“What?” Jason leaned forwards with uncertainty of what his friend was talking about.  
   Nico looked at Chiron and he began reading aloud;  
  
 _“Nico Di Angelo, and the second of whom I shall not name,  
Mine and my mother’s holiday has begun, and we will request of you both to participate in a little game on the second day. You and your nameless sister shall tomorrow receive three challenges.   
The first will be to fetch a pig in a pit.  
The second will be a contest of corn.  
And the third will be to carry a lantern to search for something dear and lost.  
Please have a good time, and try to enjoy yourselves. We will be watching you.  
Love – Persephone.  
  
Ps. The other gods are awaiting you to ridicule yourself to laugh at thy father. Try not to fail.”  
_  
“Love?” Jason quirked an eyebrow. “She likes you?”  
   Nico shrugged. “We turned out to have things in common when we actually sat down and talked.”  
“Oh. Well, that’s good at least.” Jason let out a relieved sigh. Thank the gods, Nico’s ability to befriend the strangest of unhuman people saved his butt.  
“Well, except the stage pressure.” Nico muttered, pointing out that last part about of not failing and being laughed at.  
   Chiron sighed and folded the note. “At least the challenge won’t kill you. That’s a plus for once. Though I fear the gods might try to use you as an excuse to poke fun at your father, Nico. Seeing as you’re the reason he even got a throne at Olympus now. They might still be a little upset about it. Thank your stepmother and Hermes that they have convinced the other gods that watching you ridicule yourself is better revenge than killing you off.”  
“Wonderful” Nico sarcastically overjoyed. “Though, I will have to give both Persephone and Hermes offerings tonight in the pavilion, then.”  
“I would recommend that, yes.” Chiron rolled over to Nico and put a firm hand on his shoulder. “Try not to worry, you’re safe at camp. I’ll have everything prepared for tomorrow, and later at dinner we will announce tomorrow’s event.”  
   Nico muttered something and turned to Jason. “You’ll be there, right?”  
   Jason only smiled. “Of course, you’ll need a cheerleader.” Nico chuckled and shook his head. They said good bye to Chiron and Nico very formally thanked him for his help and advice.  
   As they walked back into the camp site, Nico turned to Jason “Also, I heard you yelled at Percy about something involving me, what was that about?”  
   Jason looked slightly uncomfortable. “it wasn’t a big deal. He asked me if I had heard from you and I told him I’d tried to IM you, but the connection is so fuzzy and that you always cut short anyway. And he said something like ‘oh that’s just like him, to cut short and run off’. And I told him that ‘hey, he has his reasons and you’re being a jerk’… that was basically the conversation. He got angry, I got angry, we ended up with shoving until Annabeth stepped in. We talked about it though, it’s alright between us. So don’t worry.”  
   Nico looked worried anyway.  
   Jason sighed. “I didn’t tell him. I’d never tell Percy, alright?” Nico nodded and shrugged up his aviators jacket up to his cheek like a turtle.  
“You’d never tell me what?” Percy had caught up with them at the worst possible time, and with him was Annabeth.  
“Well, I can’t tell you that.” Jason teased, Percy huffed and turned to Nico with puppy eyes.  
   Nico avoided looking at him and gritted his teeth. “None of your biz Jackson.”  
“Aww, come on! We’re supposed to be the big three demigods! I want in too, guuyyyss, no fair! Please? We’re all friends here!”  
“I’m going to find Hazel.” Nico said and turned.  
“Hi Nico.” Annabeth said, but she wasn’t upset that he hadn’t greeted her. Nico stopped in his tracks and turned over his shoulder to look at her. Nico gave her a small smile.  
“Hi Annabeth, sorry, I’m in a hurry.”  
“See you later.”  
   Nico nodded and left. Percy’s eyes followed his friend and he grunted when he was out of earshot. “ugh, why does he hate me so much?”  
“Percy” Annabeth said firmly. “I told you, be patient.”  
“Easy for _you_ to say, he likes _you_.” The demigod crossed his arms and tried to find Nico in the crowd again, but he was as gone as the leafs on the trees. “I just want him to know I’m here for him, y’know? All things considered, I think of him as a long lost little brother. I kind of owe him that much at least… since Bianca.”  
   Jason rolled his eyes and Percy saw it and sighed. “You got something to say Jason? Because I know you’re his best bud and everything but he and I got history so-“  
“Don’t try to befriend him out of guilt. He’s already past the thing with Bianca, and I think he wouldn’t like to know the only reason you’re befriending him is out of guilt and pity.”  
“it’s not out of guilt or pity! I do actually consider the guy my friend but he keeps shoveling me off. It’s probably because I’m with Annabeth but you’d think he wouldn’t be the type to hate on someone for that reason?”  
“He isn’t the type either.” Jason said. “He’s not in love with Annabeth, he never was. That’s false rumor.”  
   Annabeth smiled “I know.” And when Jason looked into her mist gray eyes, it was like he could read her mind; like she was saying _‘I know it isn’t me’_. That’s when Piper caught up with them and surprised them by spooking Jason from behind, who let out an almost pitched scream. Percy laughed so hard he fell over and then they laughed at him for falling. Friendship, what would the world be without it?  
  
  
Hazel and Nico sat by the Hades table, Hazel ate chicken barbeque with roasted potatoes, peas and sauce. Nico was just eating sliced pieces fruit.  
   Hazel frowned at her brother “Eat more proteins.”  
“There are plenty protein in fruit.” He peeled an orange.  
“Not enough for you.” She huffed. “at least eat nuts or beans?”  
   Nico moved away some apples to show her the nuts at the bottom of his deep plate.  
“Ah.” But she wasn’t satisfied. “Still, eat more.”  
“I ate plenty when Frank made pancakes.”  
“You ate so much you vomited.”  
“At least I ate it.” He grinned in that madness kind of way that made Hazel shudder a bit.  
   She was going to say something when Chiron stood up on his stallion legs, and clopped his hooves to get attention. When the dinner pavilion was silenced, Chiron announced what was going on. That this year’s Demeter festival was going to hold a special event for the Hades kids to participate in, three challenges. He said these challenges would take place at the arena, so that _everyone could watch_. Hazel looked at Nico, wondering if he was nervous of having to do this in public, she certainly was.   
   Earlier Nico had told her about the letter from Persephone; and she was the least to say relieved it wasn’t going to be TO THE DEATH, but she was also very annoyed this was set up to ridicule them both. Catch a pig? Really? That was bound to look ridiculous. Nico had also told her that no matter how embarrassing it gets, they have to look mighty for their father’s sake. That annoyed Hazel even more. Why should she protect the honor of a man who ignores her existence? (even if it’s for her own good.) She didn’t have the relationship to Pluto as Nico did to Hades, even if it was a very strange father-son relationship they had. To be honest, it sounded more like the mutual respect of a general to his lieutenant. But whenever Nico spoke of their father, it was with a deep respect. It was never fearful. Grover had told her that Nico was the only demigod he’s ever heard of who could actually bitch talk to their godly parent. Not that it surprised her; Nico took bullshit from nobody. He took his role as a demigod very seriously; He was very formal when greeting deities and he carried some kind of honor with him into battle… That is until he started cackling manically as he cut the head off a monster. That behavior was just cray-cray, and slightly amusing.   
   Either way, Hazel had a bad feeling about this. No matter how easy it was for Nico to put on a mask, it wasn’t for her. If she got humiliated by a pig she’d take it very personally.   
“Don’t worry.” Nico said and popped a slice of orange into his mouth. “We’ll be fine. And we got plenty of time to plan ahead until tomorrow. Let us just follow Persephone’s advice and try to enjoy ourselves.”  
“To be honest I thought you’d hate this, but you seem to have gotten cozy to the idea of chasing a pig tomorrow.” She took a piece of chicken into her mouth along with a scoop of peas.  
“No, not really.” He admitted. “I’m a little nervous.. the camp haven’t really, you now, they don’t know me very well. I don’t want to be a fool. But it is better with you here, feels like it’s not just all on me.”  
   She smiled and swallowed. “Well, if all else fails, let’s just laugh at ourselves if we mess up.”  
“I don’t think I can, my pride gets easily hurt. I will just ignore the shame.”  
   Hazel giggled. “or you just don’t want people to hear how adorable your laugh is.”  
“It’s not adorable. Frank said I laugh like a lunatic.”  
“Well, you do, too.” Hazel nommed a potato. “but you have many laughs. Some are cute.”  
“You’re cute.” He said as if an insult.  
“You’re cuter.” She challenged and smiled in that sugar sweet way of hers.  
“But you’re the cutest.” He grinned in that dangerous madman way of his, and someone somewhere on the table behind Hazel caught Nico’s grin in her vision and shuddered at the sight.  
“Nu-uh, you’re cuter than the cutest.”  
   Nico rolled his eyes. “I forfeit.”  
“That means you’re cuter than me.” She swung a fork proudly.  
“I don’t think that’s possible.”  
   She giggled and his grin softened into a warm smile. He really, really, loved having Hazel as his sister. It did warm and fuzzy things to him that he hadn’t felt since he snoozed on his mother’s chest as a little child. Hazel was a person who lit up when she saw him and rushed over to squeeze him into a big hug, a little sister who peered up at his face with a hint of admiration that made him feel shy and proud at the same time. Ever since he found out about her, he had decided to make her life as good and comfortable as possible… which originally didn’t include him. But now, well, she had made it extremely clear to him that she wanted him around, and that she would be very hard to shake off. ‘ _I will hunt you to the end of the world if I have to, you’re my brother and my home is your home! You hear?! Don’t you dare think otherwise than that I love you!_ ’ it was the best scolding he had ever had to sit through.  
   At the end of dinner, they siblings gave a big offering to Demeter and Persephone, as well as their father… and Hermes for have backed Persephone up with her idea.  
  
“I don’t want to.” Nico looked away from Percy, and Hazel watched him with a knowing look.  
“Oh please? Pretty please?” Percy begged. “I promise I will be helpful!”  
“No.”  
“Oh but please? If I get to help you guys tomorrow at the challenges, I will take you guys out on the boat Tyson made me.”  
“No, Percy.” Nico said and gave him a stare that could’ve frozen water. But apparently not Percy’s. “This is for the underworld kids, the gods are still a bit upset about Hades getting a seat at Olympus, this is their way of taunting our father. I doubt Poseidon would be happy if his favorite son were to compete in a game set up to ridicule the contestants.”  
“But..” Percy looked like a rejected puppy. “But it sounds fun. And for once it’s not life and death! And it would be a perfect opportunity for you and me to bond a little! Right? We totally need that!”  
   Hazel could almost hear how Nico’s chest twisted. “Percy..” She said with a sorry smile. “I think it’s better if it’s just me and Nico. We wouldn’t want to upset Neptune, I mean; Poseidon.”   
“Aw come on Hazel, I’m just helping out friends! It will be alright, I’m sure dad’s cool with it!”  
“How can you be so sure?” Nico said coolly. “He didn’t exactly back Persephone’s idea up. What if he was one of the gods who rather I and hazel got accidentally struck by lightning?”  
   Percy smirked. “Because dad laughed his ass off when Zeus had to welcome and thank hades at Olympus back in the war against Kronos.”   
   Nico remembered that, seeing how his godly uncle could barely contain himself from bursting into a hysterical laughter. Maybe it would be okay if Percy helped them out, but still, this wasn’t just about Poseidon; what about Demeter? She was still angry at Hades for taking her daughter down to the underworld. He couldn’t risk her being angry for them getting help from Poseidon’s heroic son; Perseus Jackson, it would be like cheating, wouldn’t it?  
“No, Percy.” Nico said with a final huff. “Demeter would call it cheating.”  
“but-“ Percy was going to argue, but Hazel cut him off.  
“However, we will need a good cheerleading squad! Jason’s already offered to cheer us on. We will need a lot of support… We will definitely be laughed at if we mess up so…”  
   Percy blinked. “Laughed at? Who would laugh? We’re all pretty worried about you guys, you know.” He put his hands in his pockets. “I wouldn’t let anyone laugh at my friends.”  
   Hazel smiled. “good! Then, please talk to Jason! We will need you guys support! Right, Nico?”  
   Nico glanced her way and nodded. “yeah..” he said and looked at the ground. “Admittedly I am a bit worried about getting laughed at. I don’t want to disappoint dad.”  
   Percy’s eyes widened just a little, Nico had opened up just slightly! Near him? This was serious! Percy smiled and help out his arms. “Yeah! Of course! Dude, count on me alright?” He nudged Nico’s arm playfully. “I will make sure the whole camp cheers for you guys!” He grinned and gave them double thumbs up. “I won’t let you down!”  
“I don’t think that’s possible.” Nico slipped out, and Percy quieted. The water crazy demigod’s lips turned into a broad grin.  
“Right.” Percy beamed happily, like he just won a teddy bear at the fair. “I will assemble the gang, we will have the best cheering squad the history of camp-half-blood!” He told them that he’d see them later by the camp fire, were they could walk to the Poseidon cabin and talk before bedtime about tomorrow. He waved them off and almost ran into his best friend Grover, whom he grabbed and pulled along with him, flailing his arms like he had the greatest idea in the world. Grover looked confused.  
   Hazel watched Jackson run off before she turned to Nico, who’s gaze was locked at the disappearing demigod. His face was so dreamy and soft, Hazel could almost see the sparkling stars and hearts flying around in her brother’s vision. So obviously; Hazel couldn’t help but poke his cheek.  
“Earth to space cadet Nico, do you copy?”  
   Nico blinked several times like a startled cat and looked at her, puffed his flushed red cheeks at her and frowned, she cracked up laughing. Her brother was adorable.  



	5. The cheerleading squad

“This… is… isn’t this a bit much?” Hazel spoke out what Nico was thinking as they stood in the Poseidon cabin along with their friends. Leo had apparently gone all out along with Tyson, they had banners and pompoms. Leo was leaning at a confetti machine that he explained would make a rain of colors when they succeeded all three challenges. Tyson and Leo, with a little help from Annabeth, had made a stereo surround system to put up around the arena, to play really pumped-up music such as; the eye of the tiger, Indiana jones theme song, etc.   
   Piper, Jason, Percy and Grover had mainly worked on the banners, they were very colorful with big texts reading ‘ _GO TEAM UNDERWORLD’, ‘YOU CAN DO IT!’_ and ‘ _ALL HAIL THE GHOST KING’._  
“Not that one, please.” Nico’s cheeks were pink. Calling him the ghost king felt embarrassing and a bit, well, douche-confidential.   
“Aw whaaat?” Percy laughed. “But this is the best one! It _is_ your title!”  
“Please just put it away.”  
“But you’re the one who was like ‘ _take that, I’m the ghost king!_ ’ back in the labyrinth-“  
“Percy, please.”  
“Ha ha, alright, alright. We’ll see tomorrow.” Percy folded it up and Piper put the pompoms down in a box.   
“Oh also, I mentioned this to my siblings.” Piper said. “And they were actually pretty excited about it? I hope it’s alright if I invited them to cheer on you guys.”  
“The more the better” Hazel smiled and looked at Nico who was staring at one of the boom-boxes. “Right, Nico?”  
“Huh? Oh, yes. I don’t mind.”  
   Leo grinned and patted his stereo system. “Me and Tyson will take care of the music. Oh and.. I think Tyson made something for you both.”  
   Nico and Hazel turned to the big one eyed guy who stood behind everyone else with a shy posture.  
“Aw come here big guy.” Percy invited his brother to not hang in the background. “I’m sure they will love it! come on, show them.”  
   Tyson strutted forward and placed a cloth wrapped thing in each of their arms.  
“Um, in case it gets rough.” Tyson said and watched the siblings unwrap their present. “Sorry it’s not very big armor. But, um, I thought lighter would be better.”  
  Hazel held up her golden colored forearm armor and breastplate. It felt light and strong. She put them on and gasped happily. “Oh my! Tyson, you shouldn’t have! This is beautiful! Thank you so much!” She stroke her fingers over the patterns, there was a kind of floral pattern on her, along with star constellations. She turned to Nico to look at his armor. His was black, but you could still see the beautiful carvings of hellhounds, skulls, ghosts and eternal flames of hell. It was a gruesome armor, but it was pretty damn cool looking. Nico put it on and looked down on himself.  
“Yeah, Tyson.” Nico said and looked at him. “This is amazing. Thank you.”  
   Tyson smiled shyly at the compliments. “oh and, uh, here..” He reached out for Hazel’s arm and pressed the sign of Pluto at the far end of the forearm armor, and out poked a shirt knife.  
“oohh!” She gasped. “That’s so useful!” Nico tried the same on his Hades sign, and a knife poked out there too.  
“Nice..” He grinned like he couldn’t wait to use it on a monster. Leo shuddered, Jason and Piper both elbowed him.  
“And these!” Tyson picked out two helmets, one golden and one stygerian iron like Nico’s armor. The siblings put them on and Tyson showed them how if they pressed the Hades/Pluto sign on the left temple of their helmet, a face screen would fold out (press it again and it would fold in again). The siblings tried it and sure enough, there was an armor covering their face. Hazel looked like a Roman knight in golden armor. It was beautiful, she truly looked like a hero. Nico’s made him look like a villain, because on his, there was fangs that made it look like he had a muzzle of a Cerberus. It framed his eyes in such a way that made him look more intense than normally, you could almost feel the death and madness reek from him. Nico poked it again and it folded back up.  
“I love it.” He told Tyson, who clapped his hands and went ‘ _yaaayy!_ ’ “Though, we are just chasing a pig, I don’t know how much of these we will actually use. And I doubt we need armor in eating cake.” He looked at Tyson. “Though, thank you. We will wear it tomorrow, father will be proud.” Tyson giggled and clapped his hands again, happy that he could at least make them look badass eating cake.  
  
  
“My turn.” Leo spun the bottle. It was honestly pretty impressive how not a single one of them had ever played spin-the-bottle before. But it wasn’t all that strange. None of them had normal childhoods where they got to hang out with a group of friends, have a sleepover and play stupid preteen games. This was just a bunch of teenagers catching up.   
   Leo spun the bottle and it landed on Piper. He grinned “oohh! Truth or dare, Piper.”  
   She grinned back “Truth.” And everyone let out an _‘oooohhhh’_ like it was a very, very, daring thing to do. Nico, who refused to participate, shook his head at his friends of dorks from behind Hazel.   
“Alright, tell us the truth Piper; is your bedroom at your dad’s place huge?”  
“I have nothing to compare with.” She admitted.  
“Mine fit a desk, a bed, a bookshelf and a chair.” Annabeth offered as comparison.  
“Ah. Ok, mine’s pretty big then, ha ha.” She looked a bit embarrassed about her dad being wealthy when her friends were either middle class or were between poverty and no-home. Though, she looked at Leo who didn’t seem to take it personally.  
“Woah, Piper!” He said, “You got to invite us all over for a sleepover! Now you got me curious!” She giggled, relieved, and promised she definitely would.  
“Alright, my turn.” She pun the bottle and it ended up on Nico.  
“Just spin it again.” Jason said, and she did, but it kept ending up at Nico.   
“Is this thing rigged?” Piper asked.  
“Oohh! It’s just fate!” Leo sounded a little more excited about this than Nico was comfortable with. “Just this one round dude, it won’t hurt ya.” Leo assured and waved at him to come into the circle. Nico took a silent breathe of annoyance and scooted in.   
“Alright, I choose dare.”   
“hmm…” Piper hummed thoughtfully. Then she lit up. “I know!”  
“Nothing embarrassing.” Nico added quickly.  
“Aw dude come on! That’s the whole point of the game!” Leo voiced but got elbowed by Jason “ow- can you stop doing that? I’m trying to include him!”  
“Don’t worry, it’s not too bad.” Piper said. “I dare you tooo.. be tickled for 30 seconds!”  
“No.” Nico said, sliding his hand across the air like he was cutting the conversation.  
“it’s the game rules Nico!” Percy said and lifted his fingers up like claws, getting up on his knees to scoot over and attack his friend with wormy fingers of doom. Nico instantly panicked.  
   So Hazel pulled him into a hug and began to poke him. “Start counting!” She ordered.  
“What hazel- NO! HAHAHA- NO, HAZEL-“ She knew how to tickle him, that’s how she won over the remote on tv nights. His laughter began strained, then he coiled and it sounded like the cutest boy on earth, he had laughter like a water stream, gentle and happy, bouncy and young. He pushed at her face to stop tickling him, and managed to get away around second twenty-seven. He wheezed and shoved at her, she just giggled.   
“Don’t tickle me.” He growled to her, but she just stuck her tongue out like his glare couldn’t touch her, besides it wasn’t very scary looking when his face was blooming red. When he sat down again, grumpy and embarrassed, he reached for the bottle.  
“Hey man,” Percy said and Nico unintendedly locked eyes with him. “You should laugh more” and he made a stupid thumbs up that made steam come from Nico’s collar.   
“Whatever.” He spun the bottle and it ended up on Percy.  
“ooohh!” Tyson applauded. “Pick dare, pick dare! I want to see Percy do something funny!”  
   Percy patted his big little brother. “Nah, I think I’m gonna go for truth or Nico’s just going to make me jump into the sea or something.” He joked and winked at Nico, who looked at the bottle as if it had eyes. “I choose truth.”  
   He could ask anything, anything he wanted. The game rules said that you had to say the truth, right? The absolute truth. What should he ask? Should he ask if he liked boys, despite dating Annabeth? Was that a thing? He was pretty sure Hazel told him something like that once… but that might make the others wonder why he would ask that. He’d give himself away, he couldn’t do that. Shit, what should he ask? Something tedious perhaps or something funny maybe? Like ‘ _what’s your favourite colour_ ’ which was blue, that’s a no-brainer.   
“Nico?” Piper asked.  
“I’m thinking.” Nico leaned on his knee. “Alright, if you were stuck on a boat with two people and you were all going to starve from starvation? Who would have to die for the other two to live and feast on you?”  
“Oh gross!” Leo shuddered. “Man, thanks for the shivers. I didn’t need to sleep tonight.” Piper elbowed him again and he gave her a ‘ _WHY?_ ’ stare.  
“That’s easy.” Percy said. “I’d kill myself so my friends could live.”  
   Nico’s lined lips curled into a grin. “Really?”  
“yes of course!”  
“So, you wouldn’t just use your Poseidon powers and guide the boat to safety?”  
   The room was quiet. Because, yeah, duh Percy, you numbskull.  
“On second thought I think I would much rather do that. Living is good, I like living.”  
   Everyone laughed, even Nico.  
  
  
  


**Notes for the Chapter:**

> MORE COMING SOON, PLEASE BE PATIENT QWQ;; <333


	6. Second day of Demeter

When Piper woke up she was laying in the arms of her most adorable son of Jupiter, a smile spread across her face as she cuddled in closer to him.  
“Good morning” He said and Piper looked up at him.  
“How long have you been awake?”  
“A while.” He admitted with a hushed voice.  
   All the demigod friends laid spread across the Poseidon cabin’s floor, tangled in blankets and air-mattresses that they had pumped up the previous night. One of them was floating in the ceiling because Leo had somehow blown hot air into it, last night that had been one of the highlights.  
“I’m going to wake Hazel.” Said a voice behind Piper and she turned over her shoulder to see Nico getting up from under a blanket printed with dolphins. He grabbed his usual aviators jacket and put it on. Piper understood that maybe the two of them had talked a little before she woke up. She wondered about what?  
“Oh, you’re awake too?” Piper chimed with a whisper. Nico nodded in reply and tried to carefully sneak over to Hazel, who was lying next to Annabeth, who had Percy curled all around her like she was his one and only teddy bear.  
   Piper smiled. “Don’t wake her yet, it still looks early.”  
“We must prepare for the challenges.” Nico whispered back and stepped over a snoring Leo.  
   Jason sat up slowly and Piper with him. “She might need the rest.” He told his friend who stopped by Tyson. “We can wake her up later if you want.”  
   Nico was quiet and looked down at his sister. She looked so peaceful and he didn’t actually want to wake her up. But there was things they needed to prepare for; like the armor Tyson gave them, find hazel a pair of shoes (because she can’t keep using his only pair) and he needed to go through with her one more time about how important it was that they keep their dignity for the sake of Hades (otherwise he will be embarrassed and the gods will laugh, and we don’t want that now do we?)  
“She doesn’t have any shoes.” He said quietly.  
“She can borrow a pair from the Aphrodite cabin; she and I got the same size.” Piper said. “We got plenty shoes there.”  
   Nico looked her way and then back at Hazel. “You sure you would lend us some? What if Aphrodite dislikes-“  
“My mother can dislike all she wants, I’m helping my friends, I doubt she would dislike an act of platonic love.”  
“You never know.” Nico shrugged and squat down to brush hair from Hazel’s face and pull the blanket with seahorses up over her shoulders. Jason smiled; very few knew how affectionate and caring the son of Hades actually was.  
“You’re pretty careful with the gods, huh?” Piper asked.  
“Not really.” Nico replied and looked at Hazel. He didn’t care if the gods had just put this on his shoulders, which would have made it so much easier. He didn’t care if he was laughed or spat at; he didn’t care if one of the gods loathed him or cursed him to have cat ears for the rest of his life. Nico did however care about Hazel. Nobody was going to laugh at her, and certainly not curse her or hurt her. He wanted to be as careful as possible – you never know if maybe Demeter would actually try hurting them for real? He couldn’t afford loosing another sister.  
   Piper tilted her head and the penny dropped.  
“Well, don’t worry. Hazel fights really well.”  
“I wasn’t questioning her fighting skills.” He stood up again.  
“Well, I’m just saying; since you look a bit worried there.”  
   Jason smiled when Nico blushed and turned away, muttering that he’s not worried at all.  
“Pipes,” Jason turned to his girlfriend. “Could you get Hazel some shoes later then?” He stood up.  
“Sure but um, where are you going?”  
“With the worrywart over there.”  
“I’m _not_ worried.”  
“Sure you’re not.”  
  
Jason stood by the dead fire in the Hades cabin as Nico was changing clothes, fetching his sword and putting on the armory that Tyson gave him. He put the helmet under his arm. Jason gave a low whistle when Nico returned from the bedroom, he received an annoyed grunt.  
“Nice, I never saw you in a camp shirt before.” Jason had a humorous grin that probably hurt his cheeks.  
“Never got around to wear one before.” Nico made sure the armory on his arms sat tightly, but it already did, so Jason figured he just needed to look elsewhere than on him.  
“Well, you look good with colors.”  
“It’s not like I don’t wear colors.”  
“Oh, really? Except black?”  
“Yes, I wore a camp Jupiter shirt when I stayed at Hazel and Frank’s place.”  
   Jason laughed but Nico didn’t see the fun in it, but chuckled either way because his friend Jason was a dork sometimes.  
“You moron.” Nico shook his head.  
“Oh please, you love me this way.” Nico rolled his eyes. “Oh- sorry, wrong choice of words. I really didn’t mean- I meant-“  
“I know, stop fretting. Just because I’m… you know, it doesn’t mean I ogle my friends.”  
   Jason halted, his worrying face slowly turned into one of his ridiculous happy-puppy faces.  
“So, you consider me your friend now? Like officially?” Up to this point, Nico had ‘tolerated’ Jason hanging around him. And Jason just hoped the toleration would eventually develop into something more – which it had.  
   Nico blushed and pursed his lips. “Yeah, so? Big deal. Of course you’re my friend, you’re my best friend. The way you linger around and pester me with iris messages-” He didn’t get to finish that before Jason was hugging him. Nico froze and held his hands out awkwardly, he ended up giving Jason a pat on the back.  
“There, there.” Son of Hades tried. “Pal, you’re crushing me.”  
“oh, sorry!” Jason let go, smiling.  
“Don’t be so smug about it.”  
“I’m not! I’m just really glad my best friend considers me a best friend too. Considering how hard you have with trust and stuff. I just want you to know I really appreciate this and I-“  
“Jason, you’re my friend not my wife.”  
   Jason laughed. “it’s so nice hearing you joke!”  
“You don’t need to comment everything I do, you know.”  
“I know, I just… I just want you to notice the good changes too. I know you’ve been struggling with a lot of things and I just wanted you to know that I’m here for you and I support you getting more out there. Like last night? You didn’t talk much but you smiled and you laughed at least a little bit? Sure, you were hiding by Hazel and I the whole time but I think even Leo find you less intimidating now. I know Piper likes you.”  
“She does? Why?”  
“She told me I was right about you, how you weren’t at all some creepy loner worshipping serial killers.”  
“Is that what she thought of me?”  
“NO, noooo, no no! No, not- nobody thought that! I was just.. saying.”  
“My vibes right? Dark clothes, hades kid, Italian… I really got to love those criminal legends Bonnie and Clyde, All Capone, Baby Face Nelson and let us not forget how I love to make people drop.” Jason snorted. “What? Isn’t that it? People think I’m some kind of death longing mafia kid?”  
   Jason gave him a sad smile and a shrug. “A little bit maybe, but I know it’s not true and so does all of us. Even Leo doesn’t think you’re scary anymore, otherwise he wouldn’t have pulled so many jokes your way.”  
   Nico lift his shoulders. “Well, I can’t help that I reek of death.” He mumbled. “it’s just one of the great fortunes of being Hades’ son. I’m glad being a daughter of Pluto doesn’t have the same effect.”  
“You really care about her, huh?”  
“of course I do, she’s my sister.”  
“You don’t have to love your family.” Jason said and Nico faced him. Jason had told him about his own human family after hearing from Percy how Bianca had been with Thalia too at the time of her death. Jason told him about his alcoholic destructive party wild movie star mother, who he didn’t know and wasn’t sure he could ever forgive.  
   Nico sighed. “I know, but… I love Hazel.”  
“That’s good. I love Thalia too. Good thing we have that in common huh?”  
“What?”  
“You know, sisters from different camps.”  
“Ah, yeah.” Nico looked at his feet. “How uh… How is that going anyway? Heard anything from her yet?”  
   Jason sighed but smiled. “Sometimes she actually Iris Messages me.”  
“really?” Nico smiled. “That’s good right? Keeping in contact?”  
“yeah, but she is so busy I don’t want to disturb her.”  
“I know how that feels.”  
   The two boys stood quiet for a while, the silence was comfortable and they reflected about how similar they were although different. But maybe that’s what makes friends into friends?  
“Anyway,” Jason coughed.  
“Yeah.” Nico stretched.  
“So… uh.. breakfast starts soon.”  
“Right, hopefully Piper has given Hazel shoes, otherwise I’ll lend her mine again.”  
“Then what would you wear?”  
“Socks?”  
“Not a chance, buddy.” He hooked his arm around Nico’s shoulder and led him out of the cabin. “Not a chance.”  
  
Hazel and Nico sat both in armor during breakfast. Chiron had told them by the entrance that after breakfast they should head for the Arena and stay ready for the first challenge. He told them that a big box stood there waiting for them. The siblings had exchanged a look of confusion, because the first challenge was about catching a pig or something, wasn’t it?  
   Nico ate two fruits before he claimed he was full, Hazel had then scrapped off half her plate on his and he ate a third.  
“C’mon Nico, eat more. We might need the energy!”  
“Trust me if I eat more I’m going to vomit by the first strike I get.”  
“Nico, it’s a pig. Not a monster.”  
“Have you ever met a pig? Pigs are pretty big Hazel.”  
“I have met a pig and a matter of fact I even know how to cuddle them.”  
“oh, well, that’s great.” Nico snorted and poked in his plate.  
   Hazel pouted. “I’m serious..”  
“Hey, by the way?”  
“yeah?”  
“Why does the Aphrodite kids looking at us with such pain?”  
“oh well..” Hazel looked under the table at her boots, Nico glanced down with her. There was a pair of ugly, bright white orthopedic nurse's shoes with thick soles that should be a crime to wear in any weather. “Apparently I’m wearing the shoes of shame?”  
   Nico narrowed his eyes at her. “Why?”  
“Everything else had high heels or wasn’t meant to get dirty? And I dunno, I don’t think their all that bad?”  
“Me neither? What’s wrong with them?”  
“They don’t go with anything apparently.”  
“Huh.”  
“Piper didn’t want me to have them but after she told me you were worried about Aphrodite getting mad at her for helping us, I thought if I wore the shoes of shame, Aphrodite wouldn’t feel all too angry about it, right?”  
   Nico huffed. “I guess not…” He glimpsed at the Aphrodite table, who was giving them pitiful looks, like they were two fashion disasters. Piper just rolled her eyes at her siblings, sometimes they were a little bit too into looks. Sure, the shoes weren’t the best looking ones but at least they were practical? They were made to last and they were made to be comfortable. Besides, neither Nico or Hazel could tell what was wrong with them?  
   Annabeth scrapped the rest of her food into the fire pit and then walked over to the Hades table. She sat down next to Hazel.  
“Hi.” She said firmly.  
“Isn’t this against the rules?” Hazel inquired.  
“Not after you’re done eating.” Annabeth said. “And I just wanted to inform you both that Leo and Tyson are setting up the Arena’s… ‘party stuff’ as Leo put it.”  
“oh boy” Hazel chortled.  
“Yeah, and then I also wanted to wish you guys a good luck.” She looked at Nico. “Hermes delivered the box and he told me, as a clue, that Hercules killed it’s dad.”  
   Nico looked perplexed.  
   Annabeth looked at her hands for a short time in silence before adding. “Also, Demeter will personally sit among us to watch. So Tyson is making her a special seat. Hazel, it would be wise to wear your helmet.”  
“Why?” she asked.  
“Because it would be safer if your identity was secret - Not only Demeter will be watching, but the other gods as well even if they are not present. If they put one and one together that Hades is letting you out of the underworld… We don’t know what the gods will think of it.”  
   Hazel swallowed and nodded, understanding the seriousness of the situation; petty challenges or not, her life could be at stake here.  
   Nico curled his hands together, he didn't like this. He didn't like this one bit. He had a gnawing feeling in the back of his neck that Demeter might be hoping for such an opportunity – anything to get back at Hades. After all, a daughter for a daughter; what could be better?


	7. The Arena

Jason liked the arena; he had many nice sparring moments there with Percy and Piper, as well as their other friends. And he felt worried as much as he was excited about watching Nico and Hazel, he was hoping they would be alright. The box in the middle of the arena was making alarming squeaking pig noises. And he wondered just what kind of rabid pig would sound like that. Piper sat down next to him and her siblings took seats behind them; ready for a good cheering with pompoms and signs. Percy and Annabeth sat down on Jason’s other side, and then Frank (who arrived just after breakfast and just missed Hazel by minutes) sat down next to Annabeth, looking more worried than anything after being told the full story. Hazel had made it out to be not a big deal but after the others telling them what was really at stake he just couldn’t sit still and as tapping his leg up and down with nervousness.  
“She’ll be alright, Nico’s with her.” Jason told him, Frank flashed him a thankful smile but returned to his worrying thoughts soon after. His eyes glued to the screaming box.  
   All the other demigods were gathering to sit on the seats around the arena as well, chattering and murmuring amongst themselves about the hades kids. Nobody really met Nico Di Angelo, they had seen him in the background in a shadow maybe, but most of the time the other demigods kept away from him for obvious reasons – he was scary. Hazel however was a completely different story; she was part of the seven and had turned out to be such an enjoyable and cheerful person. The greek camp thought that maybe this was because her father was Pluto and not Hades, maybe Pluto was nicer? All Nico ever did was show up in the darkness or loomed around quietly back when he was actually at camp before the war. And even then people just… stayed away from him. Not even the Ares kids bothered him; they knew better than to be on Nico di Angelo’s bad-list. The guy could summon the dead for zeus sake! And being piled by a bunch of dead people was not exactly an Ares kid’s idea of graceful defeat.  
   Leo was putting up the last speaker before strutting over, putting on a big blue rubber hand pointing up with one finger, with a text reading ‘ _GO U.K_.’  
“Go UK?” Percy asked.  
“Yeah, not united kingdom – Underworld Kids!” Leo grinned. “I made one more if you want one?”  
“Hell yeah!” Percy happily accepted the rubber hand and put it on. “Oh this is just like a football game!”  
   Annabeth sighed. “Try to be serious, guys.”  
“Oh come on Annabeth!” Leo groaned. “They just need to hear our cheers no matter what happens! It will definitely help I’m sure.”  
   Before Annabeth could comment on it, the arena was suddenly beginning to bloom up. Vires of leafs spread across the mural walls and pillars, something in the air shimmered with a golden dust, like pollen collecting in a stream of wind until it took the shape of a middle-aged woman with a stern, but wise, face. As she came to be, flowers fell all around her and as she sat down in the throne Tyson had made for her; it instantly blossomed with corn, grains and wheat. She was dressed in yellow and light green robes that reminded you of fields of freshly grown oat.  It was Demeter, goddess of the harvest. She looked amused where she sat, granted there was an aura of danger around her.  
   The Stoll brothers had been selling acorn sticks and boxes popcorn nearby and she glanced at them, waving one of them over and was immediately offered both stick and box. The satyres looked excited to see her and were all going down on their knees and was cheering out her name. Even Grover, who sat in front of Percy and Annabeth, was ecstatic that the goddess was there.  
“You guys seem really happy.” Percy whispered to Grover.  
“She’s a goddess of harvest, Percy!” Grover hushed back. “Nature, growth, fertility! Of course we are excited! She’s as important to nature as Pan was!”  
   Percy eyed the goddess and tried to figure out if he like her or not; he decided in his mind that he wouldn’t like her until opposite was proven. Deities were often assholes after all.  
   Chiron clopped out on the arena and bowed before her. “Milady Demeter, I hope you will-“  
“Where’s my son-in-law’s annoying little brat for son?”  
   Okay, Percy decided he did _not_ like this lady.  
   Chiron took a breather, he was used to this but it was still bothersome to be cut off all the time, he was going to explain to her the setup of the arrangements for her challenges when Nico di Angelo spurred out of the darkness of his shadow. Chiron took a few steps to the side in surprise.  
“I’m here.” Nico said and looked unamused up at her, he did still kneel down by her, bumped his chest as a gesture of respect for her presence and stood again. “You look comfortable.”  
“I am. This chair is very nice.” She smiled at her in-law. “it’s even built where my altar should be.”  
“I’m glad you’re so satisfied.”  
   She had a smug smile plastered over her lips. “Oh my, you’re talking so politely to me.” She leaned into her hand, not removing her eyes from him. “And where’s your sister?” Nico didn’t reply, and Demeter rolled her eyes. “Fine, where’s your ‘companion’ then?”  
“getting her armor on.” Just as that was said, Hazel walked out on the arena through the vaulted stone passage, her helmet on her head with the face covered. Demeter pursed her lips, slightly displeased. Hazel did as Nico had done, got down on her knees and bumped her chest in respect.  
“Nice armor.” Demeter commented and Hazel nodded, not talking. Demeter rolled her eyes again. “You may speak child, I won’t throw you to the pits of hell.” Hazel still said nothing and Nico stared at her, he stood slightly in front of his sister. “oh for the love of- the gods don’t care! I already told on you being out and about amongst the living but Zeus just laughed at me! Hermes made it sound like you were such an important pawn as one of the seven to win against Gaea; that Zeus decided to grant your life again as a ‘thank you’ gift! So whatever, Hazel Levesque! Remove your helmet and let me look at you.”  
   Hazel looked unsure and a bit scared at her brother, who gave her one nod. She removed her helmet and looked at Demeter. Demeter frowned and looked at her up and down. Hazel felt a bit offended by that but Nico gave her a look that said ‘ _she just wants to hate you’_. Hazel wondered how often Nico had met Demeter in the underworld, because by the looks of it; they seemed extremely familiar.  
   Chiron couched to get the attention back and Demeter turned to him.  
“Yes, go on centaur.” She waved her hand to allow him room for speech.  
   Chiron bowed to her and clopped over to the middle of the arena, behind Nico and Hazel and in front of the box that let out an angry scream. The scream made most of the younger demigods cover their ears or hide by an older camper, the satyrs gasped and murmured amongst themselves.  
“it sounds big..” Leo whispered.  
“yeah..” Piper whispered back, worry filled her chest.  
   Chiron held out his arms and all eyes fell on him. “The first challenge; _to fetch a pig in a pit_.” Chiron gestured to the box. “we have also been clued by lord Hermes that Hercules killed it’s father. So we can only assume it is a piglet of the Erymanthian boar. Which I am very familiar with..” Chiron looked slightly uncomfortable at the box, remembering how centaurs had come running to his cave in fear back in the ancient times.  
   The campers gasped and looked at each other. Who hadn’t heard of Hercules twelve great labors? Were the hades kids really going to fight _that_ boar? That boar had been monstrously big and could destroy whole towns!  
   Hazel looked at Nico, who gave her a wicked grin of confidence. She shuddered and put her helmet back on. That’s when she saw Frank, he looked so worried, she just wanted to go up there and tell him everything would be fine. That she and Nico got this! Even if her confidence wasn’t there, Nico seemed pretty ready. Her brother put his helmet on and switched on the grotesque face mask. She did the same and her own star and horse decorated mask fell forward. Demeter leaned forward and seemed to greatly appreciate her armory.  
   The daughter of Pluto blinked, Chiron was still talking about the procedures of the challenge, how it was going to take place within these walls and how the task was to capture the boar rampaging inside the box. To win, they would simply have to capture it; to lose – they would either die, if the boar died they also lose (and get Artemis wrath), if they forfeit or if they couldn’t make it before noon. And noon was only two hours away.  
   Chiron passed the two siblings and patted their shoulders. “good luck.” He said.  
“Thanks..” Hazel said, trying to smile with confident at the centaur, even if he couldn’t see it through the mask – which was probably good measure because the smile faltered.  
“Don’t worry Chiron.” Nico had a chime I his voice as he pulled out his sword. “Whatever happens, we’ll find a way through it.” He looked at Hazel, and she could swear she saw something crazy flare up inside him. Was he excited or scared? Whichever it was, she pulled out her golden sword and prepared herself for battle.  
   Chiron closed the gate, the underworld siblings stood ready, the crowd were silent, and the tension in the air was loaded with excitement and fear.  
   Demeter smiled. “Let the challenge begin!” She flicked her arm out and with a gust the box fell apart and revealed the swine inside.  
  
  
  


**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hi guys! Thanks for reading so far! More is coming up! :D  
> I'm sorry this one's so short, I will try to make the next one longer :(


	8. The Erymanthian Boar Piglet

“That’s it?” Leo snorted as the boar was revealed. It was a cute piglet, bigger than a normal piglet okay, but still an adorable pink boar piglet that hadn’t even got its tusks grown out yet. Its scream was loud and growly, but to sight it was a harmless looking little thing. Nico flicked his face mask open and looked at it as if it was a joke. Demeter was trying not to burst into laughter and Hazel opened her helmet as well, looking at the baby boar shivering in front of them.  
“Aww,” She cooed and put her hands on her knees. “it is so cute!”  
  
   The Ares cabin had taken up a collected bunch of seats and was the first to laugh until they fell over. With that the rest of the campers got into a heave of laughter, they had all been worked up to that this would be a great and scary thing. That they might actually see the real Erymanthian boar, or at least a worthy spawn of his, to face the son of Hades and daughter of Pluto; both of which were legends at both camp-half-blood and camp Jupiter.  
  
   Nico put his helmet down on the ground and put his sword back into its sheet. Demeter had successfully underestimated them and successfully gotten the whole camp to laugh at him and his sister. But honestly he was mostly revealed that it wasn’t going to be a difficult challenge. The piglet looked terrified and was staring at him like death itself was approaching. It let out a weak squeak.  
“Don’t hurt him!” Hazel plead and Nico looked over his shoulder.  
“Hazel, it’s just a pig.”  
“A baby pig…” she pointed out. “It looks terrified..”  
“Well, not for long.”  
  
   Percy was glaring over at Clarisse who gave him a teasing grin and a ‘ _what?’_ shrug. It was hilarious after all, not her fault that the oh-so-scary threat was just a baby boar. If this is what Nico had been worrying so much about, that said a lot about the son of Hades.  
“Come on then di Angelo!” Clarisse shouted from her seats amongst her siblings. “Take the damn pig!”  
“Shut up Clarisse.” Annabeth warned. “It’s not funny, something’s wrong.” She looked at Demeter, who looked ever so pleased with herself.  
“Annabeth, please.” Clarisse gestured to the arena. “this is the most ridiculous battle I’ve ever seen. This got to be a joke, right? This is the great challenge for the hades kids? They must be pretty weak.”  
   Jason growled. “You saw them in the war, you know their strong.”  
“yeah!” Percy poked in. “it’s just Demeter who wants to ridicule them!”  
“She’s succeeding.” Clarisse laughed and slapped her knee.  
  
   The seven and company glowered angrily at the Ares cabin who kept shouting and egging o the other campers to laugh. Sure, it was… pathetic, Demeter really wanted the two siblings to be laughingstocks. At least Hazel wasn’t going to be brought to the underworld but one could wonder if having your glory and legacy waved off and replaced by this was any better.  
  
   Then Frank stood up and shouted out; “Take it Nico! Finish the challenge! You guys are awesome! Don’t underestimate the Hades cabin!”  
   Leo stood up and punched the blue rubber hand in the air. “Go team underworld! Woooh! Yeah! Take that damn pig and TOAST it!” Then Tyson, Percy and Piper stood up too, cheering for their friends even if there was nothing to really cheer about yet. They just wanted to out voice the laughter. Pipers siblings seemed to catch on and started waving their pompoms wildly, shouting random cheer-rhymes. Piper used some of her charmspeak to make other campers join in.  
  
   Jason and Annabeth looked at each other with worry, they both thought the same thing; something was not right.  
“Let’s just get it over with.” Nico said and reached down for the piglet. Hazel sighed and sheeted her sword. So much for a challenge.  
   And that’s when the piglet turned, and kicked Nico so hard in the chest that he sent flying into one of the pillars. The audience gasped and silenced, wide eyed they stared at the boy who was sent flying with such a force it left a crack in the pillar. Nico slumped down on his knees and fell forward, the air in his lungs completely knocked out and he gasped; clutching a hand over his armor and was greatly thankful it was there to take the hit for him.  
“Holy shit!” Leo whispered his eyes wide. “it’s strong!”  
“NICO!” Hazel shouted and ran over to him, but she didn’t have time until the piglet screeched and charged for her. She didn’t have much time to think for a plan other than to run for it. “Aaa! Wait! Waaaait!” she shouted, she needed more time! And she needed to check on Nico, but he was slowly getting back up on his feet.  
  
   The only one in the audience who laughed now was Demeter. Percy threw her evil glares and was going to stand up and yell at her, but Annabeth kept him seated. Everyone had been so shocked by the sudden power of the little thing, and it was also now very clear that despite the small size of the creature; it could definitely make great harm. The boar baby opened its mouth and screamed, revealing it’s razor lines of teeth as it chased after Hazel, as if it just realized it was stronger that the demigods and decided that it would hurt them before they could hurt it.  
“Nice piglet!” Hazel tried with a soothing voice. “Stop chasing me! I don’t mean any harm- Ah!” the piglet had jumped for her, screaming as it soared forward. Hazel made a halt and turned to the right, having the baby fly into the wall with its tiny mini tusks. The impact was strong enough to leave a large crack that split the Hermes and Apollo kids apart. The campers shouted and removed themselves from the crack for safety. Demeter laughed even louder, even getting tears in her eyes. This was fine comedy to her.  
  
   Frank found the strength in him again to shout to his girlfriend; “RUN HAZEL! RUN!”  
“Yeah! Run!” Piper’s usually smooth and calm voice was rising with worry. “Run Hazel!”  
“Nico! Nico get the pig!” Jason shouted and Nico grunted. Nico watched up at the crowd and at his friends, then at his sister, he took a step forward and felt his helmet by his feet. He got the brilliant idea to kick it - sending it flying so it hit the boar in the head, making it irritated; but at least it halted and stopped chasing Hazel. Instead it set charge for Nico, who ran.  
“Hazel!” Nico shouted. Hazel turned on her heels to face his way. “Remember; we can’t kill it!”

   She caught up with him and they ran side by side. It was easier this way to talk. The sight of them running, chased by a monster piglet, made Demeter crack up so hard the corns on her chair popped into popcorn.  
“Then what are we gonna do?” she scowled. “We can’t run around forever! Can’t you summon the dead?”  
“I can try.” Nico turned and halted, He reached his arms out and the ground split. The little boar baby stopped by the crack and squeaked as three skeletons crawled up to grab hold of it. The boar screamed and shoved it’s feet into the skull of the first one, then it jumped through the second – breaking it apart – and continued chasing the underworld siblings.  
“Nope.” Nico said and turned to catch up with Hazel.  
“Can’t you make more?” Hazel asked.

   Nico curled his hands into fists and slowly lift them up. Sure enough there was undead warriors crawling up, moaning, oozing of green smoke. The shadows moved around like an invisible lamp was moving above them. Nico slowed down and began summoning the warriors to attack. The baby boar screamed and attacked the rotten flesh trying to grab it. Not only, but it began eating the warriors too, and with each warrior the piglet grew in size.  
   Hazel blinked. “um… Nico.. it’s.. uhm.”  
   Nico growled and closed the gap in the ground. The warriors crumbled and turned to ashes. The piglet was now three times its size from earlier and the tusks had grown out.  
   Hazel stomped the ground and made a big chunk of gold punch straight up into the piglet’s gut, sending it yelling up in the air, and it landed on its back a few meters away. Nico tilted his head with an amused smile on his lips.  
“Nice”  
“Thank you”

   Then the piglet stood up, spitting blood and saliva, it screamed so angrily their way that it made their hair blow back in the wind. Hazel wiped blood and pig saliva from her cheek. Nico sighed. They could hear the campers shout for them to run, or to kick it, and somewhere coach hedge was shouting "let me at’im! Lemme at’im!"  
“if you got any ideas,” Hazel said. “Now would be a great idea.”  
“it eats my warriors, and we can’t stick our swords in it.” He crossed his arms, watching the boar run to charge for them again.  
“well, I can use that loaf of gold to hit it? but we might beat it to death then.”  
“we got to knock it out somehow.”  
“or capture it.”  
  
Nico looked at Hazel, and she looked nervous. She looked around at all the campers and he realised just how much she actually cared about what they thought of her. This was the first chance either of them had to show off to the camp.He didn't care much about himself, not really. Hazel had said earlier that she didn't care either but she obviously did. She didn't want them to think she was weak, just because she was the youngest of the Seven, just because she was a witch or something and had to rely on he mist.  
Nico wondered if Hazel could use the mist here, maybe spook the boar to submission? But that might just make the campers think she cheated... He knew some campers didn't think Nico was strong because he summoned zombies (however that made him weak he didn't understand). No, he wanted Haze to have a chance to look good, get a good reputation in the Greek camp! This... This would be her moment.

   The boar was close and Nico took Hazel’s hand and shadow travelled them to the side, the boar almost ran into the wall again. It looked around confused, trying to find them again.  
   Nico looked up at Leo’s banners hanging around the arena, and he ran to grab one.  
“What are you doing?”  
“here” he gave it for her to hold. “I will try get it to you”  
“Wait what?”   
  
But her brother was already gone, and she could see his dark figure grab hold of the back of the swine. It yelled with fright, trying to shake him off, but Nico di Angelo held on tight in its scruff and would not let himself fall off. He managed to move his arms to the ears and tugged to control it. it whined in pain and charged aimlessly, kicking an flailing to get him off. Nico held on tight. He knew he must look kind of silly on the pig rodeo, because Demeter was cracking up.

   For the first few seconds Hazel was lost. But then she ran forward with the banner, trying to get it onto the pig’s face without being kicked, bitten or tusked. She kept missing because it kept steering away and try kick her with its’ back legs and shove Nico off.  
“Hazel!” Nico growled. “Aim for the legs!”  
“What?!”  
“Tangle the legs! Make it fall over!” He wanted her to make the final fall of the boar at least. let her give the winning blow as he held it.  
“But-“ Hazel aimed for the eyes because she thought it must be like horses? If you blind a horse, they will calm down! And maybe she could make it surrender then? But she didn’t get much chance to do that, the boar put its snout down low and Hazel found herself hugging the boar’s head, banner lying flat over it’s head. The bar baby’s failed attempt to hurl her away had landed her in a position to hold it by the head as Nico forced it to his will.  
“oohhh, gosh, oh gosh! Oh goosshh!” Hazel hugged hard around the snout. “e-easyyy easy piglet!” She tried to sound soothing. But she could feel the muscles pulse inside it, the wild boar thrust against her, she yelped but held her arms tight. It tried to shake her and Nico off but she kept her feet grounded with her powers, the ground began to grow up around her feet and nailing her stuck like a rock, and Nico was holding on.

   Demeter had stopped laughing and the campers were yelling out encouragement. Chiron clopped with his hooves, applauding an telling them to keep it down. Frank’s voice bellowed right into Hazel’s ear;  
“STAY GROUNDED!”  
   And Hazel found the strength to do just that, the cloth had slide down a little and the left eye stared right into Hazel’s golden shimmering eyes. Hazel eyed it, getting herself stuck in a staring contest. This was a question of power.  
  
Nico stared at his sister, who held the boar by the tusk with cheer willpower. Mist oozed around her golden shimmering eyes.  
“Bad pig.” She said, her eyes growing dangerous and she felt the boar whimper. “down with you.” And it did, it sat down slowly. It gave up.

   Nico kept his hold of the ears until he felt the piglet’s muscles relax. Then he let go too and looked at Hazel. He was just going to tell her what a good job she’d done when she suddenly began to coo and pet the pig.  
“Aww, you were just scared weren’t you? Oh yes you were, aww, poor thing” And the boar’s little tail flip flopped happily at her petting. “you’re not bad are you? No you’re not, no you’re not”  
   Nico chuckled and hopped off the pig, stroking it’s line of hair on the back.  
“Just misunderstood, huh?” the boar oinked happily. Nico shook his head and smirked.  
  
   Some of the campers cooed, other’s laughed because well.. it looked kind of silly, and they didn’t laugh at the hades kids, just that the pig was a big scared softie. Chiron looked relieved, and Annabeth was the first to applaud. The challenge was victorious and the hades kids deserved a round applause.  
   Hazel stood up, smiling proudly and bowed over dramatically, just playing along. Nico chuckled and shook his head at her. The piglet seemed to mistake the applauds for himself and oinked. Hazel put an arm over it and cuddled, giving it a small kiss and it looked awfully pleased by that.  
  
   Demeter was NOT happy.  
 


	9. Victorious

Demeter wasn’t happy that the children of her daughter’s husband had succeeded. The piglet had been put in place by Hazel’s voice and mighty stare. Nico had seen that look before, in their father’s eyes. Just then, Hazel had looked like a true daughter of Pluto; her bronze golden eyes as sharp as a sword about to end your life. Ultimate, powerful, deadly. Hazel was always so sweet that you forgot her blood were actually that of Pluto’s. Nico wouldn’t tell her, he knew it might make her offended or scared to be like their father. He was always relieved Hazel weren’t as alike their father the way he was, but just now he had glimpsed her inherited trait – the deadly glare.   
  
Hazel looked at her half-brother, sweat trickled down her face, and she smiled. She looked like herself again, and Nico sighed in relief as he was beaming her way. He didn’t want Hazel to be like their father, like him..   
Nobody liked you, it wasn’t that they had reasons to hate you, but to just be ‘tolerated’ and never a first choice for anybody, never be approached randomly by other campers to hang out, never be asked to join in.. To have rumors go around about how stable in the head you were, to have people shiver at you for just smiling. Nico hated to smile, it’s not like he didn’t see when people winced and looked away, like an old ghost had been smirking vengefully at them. Nico didn’t want to look at him like he was a madman. Hell, he barely liked to smile at himself in the mirror – so he never did.  
  
Hazel… Hazel had the sweetest smile in the whole world. He was so glad she didn’t look at all like their father. People liked Hazel, and he knew people would ask her about her ‘creepy brother’… He knew people wanted to disassociate her with him. A part of Nico wanted her to stop caring so much about him, he was such a bother to her… She always stood up for him, even when she didn’t need to she’d go ‘ _Oh my brother Nico told me this and that! He’s amazing!_ ’ trying to give him a better reputation. Another part of him didn’t want her to stop. it warmed him inside every time she would, with pride, say that he was her brother. People thought Nico was an introvert, but really, he needed people around him… He just wasn’t very liked because of who his father was and because of how alike Hades he was.  
Hazel would never be like him or their father, death glare or not. She was her very own person and he would protect her always. She was his chain to the world above. And he’d fight to the death for her.  
  
It wasn’t until Hazel was going to step away from the piglet that she realized she had literally grounded herself – her feet were stuck amongst big chunks of gold poking out of the ground. No wonder she could hold the boar the way she did.  
  
“oh!” She pushed the gold back down into the ground, embarrassed she almost fell backwards with her feet in the ground. “Wops..”  
Nico held a hand on the boar and held its scruff gently, just to be sure. “Well done there sis, you’re a real ragtime gal.”  
 Hazel giggled and playfully pushed him. “Hush you!” and Nico chuckled.  
  
“ _NICO AND HAZEL WON!”_ Leo shouted in a speaker, waving his blue giant hand around. “ _UNDERWORLD KIDS! UNDERWORLD KIDS!”_ He cheered as loudly as he could. And the campers joined in, stomping their feet on the ground so that the drumming echoed everywhere.   
  
Nico took Hazel’s hand, she looked at him. “You won this challenge.”   
Her brother rose her hand up and the crowd cheered even more. He grinned her way, she had a modest smile; and they bowed. The boar piglet sat down, looking a little surprised – like it had just realized it was in an arena.  
   
“ **ENOUGH!”** Demeter’s voice boomed, her popcorn chair rotted like an early autumn as she stood up. The silence swept over the crowd like nightfall, Leo’s megaphone bleated out a recorded voice of coach Hedge saying ‘moo!’. The goddess strode down from her place and towards the two siblings standing there, the piglet screeched angrily at her; to which Demeter swept her hand and the boar turned into a corn plant. Nico looked at it with pity.  
“Well,” Demeter began, slow clapping in the most unamused way possible. “I can’t say I am happy about this but.. you succeeded.”  
Nico did not hesitate to smirk at her and go “I think congratulations are in order.”  
She glared at him. “Congratulations.” She said contemptuously.  
“Thank you.” He bowed, Hazel quickly bowed too.  
Demeter rolled her eyes and clapped her hands – and with that; the baby boar turned into a tuft of wheat in the ground. The two demigod siblings stepped away, flashbacks of becoming a plant flashed before Nico’s eyes and he felt sorry for the boar, even if it had tried to kill him. Being wheat wasn’t a pleasant fate.  
  
“Hey!” Hazel protested. “That’s not nice!”  
“Hazel.” Nico said and reached his hand out, stopping her from arguing further. “it’s her boar, she does as she pleases.”  
“Thank you, boy” Demeter snuggled in her chair. “Besides, I got to safe keep it somewhere before I feast on him tomorrow.”  
Hazel let out a sad gasp. “That’ so cruel! It fought for you!”   
Nico looked at his sister with pity, she were too kind – even to an animal that just tried to pierce her with their tusks.   
Demeter smiled. “And it lost. It should feel honored I’m eating it and not just throwing it away. Well then, see you tomorrow at the second challenge.” And with that.. she disappeared the same way she had arrived, in a dusk of pollen.  
  
Hazel sadly stroked the wheat in the ground, sighing miserably at its fate. “I’m sorry..” She told it.  
  
The camp cheered and came down to greet them, congratulate them for defeating a monster.  
“Pfth” Clarisse huffed with her arms crossed. “You weren’t in any mortal danger anyway, and you almost lost.”  
“Oh shut up Clarisse.” Percy stormed. “They did great and-“  
“And it was just for fun, anyway.” Jason cut in. “Persephone told them to enjoy themselves and have fun, we all got entertainment. I’m pretty sure you laughed loudest of all so, I think at least you should thank them.” It was the best he could come up with.   
Clarisse crooked an eyebrow. “Alright. Thanks for looking stupid, Nico. It was hilarious.”  
“Hey, I-“ Hazel started.  
“You won thanks to your sister, a roman. Way to put us Greeks in bad light.” She sneered.  
Nico looked at her, he had nothing to say. She just wanted him to feel bad because that’s what Clarisse did. He could tell her that he knew how much she cried sometimes in the forest, how insecure she felt about her power and image. But he didn’t. He knew what it felt like and he wouldn’t get to her level.  
‘ _She’s just sad’_ he thought to himself.   
  
But Hazel boiled. It wasn’t often she would snap or get angry. She was the nice gentle kid that would give you warm hugs or tear up if you yelled at her. But damn it all to the fields of punishment if anybody even dare insult her beloved - Especially her brother, her _only_ brother.  
  
“Yeah, well, you know what?!” She pushed ahead, getting in Clarisse’s face which made the taller muscly girl blink in surprise and back up. “Maybe you were too blind to see it but he let me take that! He let me so _I_ could get a chance to prove myself here at camp half-blood! And _YOU!”_ She poked Clarisse’s chest so hard it made the Ares girl step another foot backwards. “You are a pathetic, sad girl and a shame to the Ares name! You think laughing at your fellow greeks will make you look tougher?! If you even try to mess with my brother again I will fill the ground you walk on with cursed emeralds, your life will be a minefield, you hear?!”  
The whole camp looked at Hazel, Nico just stood there in complete shock. He’d never heard her voice so clearly before. It was booming, like a doomsday, and you had to listen to her. Her eyes could make the ground crack open in fear.  
  
Clarisse swallowed, then smiled. “Wow.. I like _you_. You got guts!” She gave Hazel a playful, but careful, nudge. Hazel blinked, surprised. “Hey Frank!” She said, “Your girlfriend is totally okay!”   
Frank had been looking at Hazel as his heart skipped to new levels of heaven (gods he loved her.)  
“h-huh? Oh- uh-“ he stammered.  
Clarisse took Hazel’s hand. “ALRIGHT, UNDERWORLD KIDS. EVERYONE!”  
The Ares cabin chest bumped each other and battle cried as encouragement.  
  
Nico and Hazel weren’t sure what just happened. But later they figured they won respect points from the Ares cabin, which was a good thing. Ares kids usually hated you and would pick on you until you proved yourself worthy of their association. Yay..?  
  
Hazel got lift up by Clarisse and her siblings, and when they grabbed Nico he recoiled from it, waving a hand like _no, no, it’s okay, really_. They didn’t object his request, and Nico saw a hint of thankfulness that they didn’t have to touch him. He didn’t mind, he just looked up at his sister.  
His brave little sister with that goofy expression of surprise and delight on her face. He was glad Hazel had won allies, somehow? It made him smile as he walked behind them.   
  
Leo slinked up next to him, nudging his arm. “Hey man, nice work!”   
Nico didn’t look at Leo although he did nod. “I didn’t do much.”  
“Yeah well,” Leo shrugged with a smirk. “It was nice of you to give her the chance, Since she is struggling to make friends here in the Greek camp.”  
Nico blinked. “She has? Why?”  
“I guess they were wondering if she was like y- er, I mean. Like your dad- uh- y’know, Scary.”  
Nico crooked a brow Leo’s way.  
“Not that she’s not, I mean she obviously is! She terrified Clarisse!”  
Leo received a frown from Nico.  
“er, haha, you know what? Here’s Annabeth!” Leo quickly grabbed the blonde and shoved her to take his place. They bonked shoulders and Nico blushed. It’s not that he liked Annabeth; it’s just that she made him nervous sometimes. She always looked at him like she… _knew_ … things.  
  
She smiled at him, he just stared at her.  
“Well done Nico, you did great. I was worried a bit, but I’m glad it wasn’t a lethal test.”  
Nico furrowed his brows. “You were worried about us?”  
“Of course, you are my friends, and you never know with a goddess like Demeter. She’s tricky, and she doesn’t like you.”  
“…. Thanks, I guess.”  
  
Annabeth placed a encouraging hand on his back, and smiled at him. Nico wasn’t sure why that made him blush even deeper, and beam.   
Annabeth felt like a… some kind of.. leader-role model that he wanted to impress. If he could impress her then he felt like a puppy that had been pet for bringing the newspaper. A flashlight thought made him think maybe he had mother issues he was putting on Annabeth. She had always been kind to him, and offered advice and help. She always made him feel welcome in her own way, throwing a camp-shirt at him and telling him to put it on – like it was her way to say he belonged there.  
The two friends just smiled, it was comfortably quiet. And Nico just wanted it to remain that way.. Walking next to Annabeth like a guard made him feel powerful.  
Then, of course.  
Percy flung his shoulder over Nico and congratulated him too, making him as red as a flaring alarm. Percy told Annabeth to stop petting Nico, it obviously made him embarrassed! Annabeth just crooked an eyebrow his way.   
  
‘ _Seriously Percy’_ she thought. ‘ _I’m not the one making him embarrassed.’_


End file.
